AN  ADDRESS 


jfe,  Character  and  Jtarritces 


WILLIAM  HESRY  SEWARD. 


DELIVERED 


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CHAELES     FEAKOIS     ADAMS. 


ALBANY : 
WEED,   PARSONS    AND  COMPANY. 

1873. 


PROCEEDINGS 


of 


OS  TTTF   PE^TtT  OP 


State  of  Neto 


On  motion  of  Mr.  PERRY  : 


IN   SENATE, 

JANUARY  22,  1873. 


RESOLVED,  That  a  select  committee  of  three  be  appointed, 
on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  to  meet  with  a  committee  on  the  part 
of  the  Assembly,  to  report  resolutions  expressive  of  the  sense 
of  the  Legislature,  relative  to  the  decease  of  ex-Governor 
WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  and  that,  if  the  Assembly  concur 
therein,  the  Senate  will  meet  at  12  o'clock  noon,  on  Friday,  the 
24th  instant,  for  hearing  the  report  of  said  committee. 

The  President  appointed  as  such  committee,  on 
the  part  of  the  Senate,  Senators  PERRY,  WOODIN 
and  JOHNSON. 


M  9781 


LEGISLATIVE   PROCEEDINGS. 


IN  ASSEMBLY, 

JANUARY  23,  1873. 

RESOLVED,  That  the  Assembly  do  concur  in  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  Senate,  relative  to  the  death  of  ex-Governor 
SEWARE' ;  ?nd  that  Messrs.  CLAPP,  VAN  COTT,  BLACKIE, 
BEEBE  and  McGuiRE  be  appointed  as  such  committee  on  the 
part  of  th^  .Assembly. 

The  joint  committee,  to  which  the  subject  was 
referred,  reported  the  following  preamble  and  resolu 
tions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

WHEREAS,  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  at  its  last 
session,  the  country  heard,  with  the  deepest  sorrow,  of  the  death 
of  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  ex-Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
York  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  is  pro 
foundly  sensible  of  the  great  loss  which  the  State  and  the  Nation 
have  thus  sustained. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  lament  such  loss,  we  still  experience 
a  mournful  satisfaction  and  a  lofty  pride  in  recalling  the  varied 
and  invaluable  services  which  he  rendered  to  his  country ;  the 
acknowledged  ability  and  patriotic  zeal  with  which  he,  on  all 
occasions,  maintained  her  rights  and  defended  her  honor ;  the 
purity  of  his  character,  the  grandeur  of  his  intellectual  endow 
ments,  the  variety  and  extent  of  his  learning,  and  the  industry, 
fearlessness  and  fidelity  which  ever  marked  his  career,  both  in 
public  and  private  life. 

Resolved,  That  the  Legislature  of  this  State  tender  to  the  family 
of  the  deceased  its  sincere  condolence  upon  the  sad  bereavement 
which  has  removed  from  the  domestic  circle  its  affectionate  and 
illustrious  head. 


t 


LEGISLATIVE   PROCEEDINGS. 


Resolved,  That  the  joint  committee  be  and  they  hereby  are 
authorized  and  requested  to  make  such  arrangements  as  they 
may  deem  proper  for  the  commemoration  of  the  solemn  event, 
by  the  delivery  of  an  oration  before  the  two  Houses  by  some 
distinguished  citizen. 

Resolved,  That,  as  a  testimony  of  respect,  the  two  Houses  of 
the  Legislature  do  now  adjourn. 


Committee  on  part  of  the  Senate  : 

JOHN  C.  PERRY, 
WM.  B.  WOODIN 
WM.  JOHNSON, 


Committee  on  part  of  the  Assembly  : 

W.  S.  CLAPP, 
GEO.   M.  BEEBE, 
CHAS.  BLACKIE, 
DAVID  C.  VAN  COTT, 
J.  McGUIRE. 


In  pursuance  of  the  foregoing  resolutions,  the 
joint  committee  reported  that  they  had  tendered  to 
the  Hon.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS  an  invitation 
to  deliver  the  memorial  address,  and  that  he  had 
accepted  the  invitation. 

The  following  is  the  correspondence : 


.EGISLATIVE     tJROCEEDINGS. 


LETTER  TO  MR.  ADAMS. 
"  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  : 

"  SENATE  CHAMBER, 

"  ALBANY,  February  8,  1873.  ) 
"  Hon.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS  : 

"  Dear  Sii — I  have  the  honor  herewith  to  transmit  an  authenticated  copy  of  the 
report  of  a  select  committee  of  our  State  Legislature,  who  were  appointed  under  a 
concurrent  resolution  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly,  'to  report  resolutions,  etc., 
expressive  of  the  sense  of  the  Legislature  relative  to  the  decease  of  ex-Governor 
WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,'  which  report  has  been  unanimously  adopted. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  two  committees,  held  pursuant  to  the  resolution  contained  in 
the  report,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to  invite  you  to  deliver  an  address  at  some 
convenient  time  during  the  session,  suitable  to  the  occasion ;  and  the  undersigned 
chairman  of  the  joint  committee  was  instructed  to  communicate  such  invitation. 

"  Aside  from  other  considerations,  the  committee,  in  tendering  this  invitation,  beg 
leave  to  state  that,  inasmuch  as  the  deceased,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  your 
honored  father,  delivered  an  oration  to  his  memory  before  our  State  Legislature,  the 
committee  feel  that  nothing  could  be  more  appropriate,  and  nothing  afford  the  friends 
of  the  honored  dead  a  greater  degree  of  satisfaction  than  to  have  you,  on  this  interest 
ing  and  solemn  occasion,  reciprocate  the  favor  by  accepting  this  invitation. 

"  Requesting  the  favor  of  an  early  reply, 
"  I  am, 

"  Yours,  very  respectfully, 

"  JOHN  C.  PERRY, 
"  Chairman  of  Joint  Committee" 


MR.  ADAMS'  REPLY. 

"  57  MOUNT  VERNON  STREET,         I 
"  BOSTON,  February  12,  1873.  ) 
"  Hon.  J.  C.  PERRY, 

"  Chairman,  etc.,  Senate  of  Neiu  York,  Albany  : 

"  Dear  Sir  —  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  reception,  this  morning,  of  your  letter  of 
the  8th  instant,  and  of  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  New 
York,  on  the  occasion  of  the  decease  of  their  eminent  statesman,  the  late  W.  H. 
SEWARD. 

"  On  behalf  of  the  joint  committee  authorized  to  act  under  one  of  those  resolu 
tions,  you,  as  their  chairman,  have  been  pleased  to  signify  to  me  their  wish  that  I 
should  deliver  the  address  contemplated. 

"  Profoundly  sensible  of  the  honor  conferred  upon  me,  I  feel  as  if  I  could  not  decline 
the  task,  however  unworthy  to  perform  it. 

"  In  accepting  it,  however,  it  becomes  of  some  importance  to  me  to  know  what 
period  of  time  can  be  allotted  to  me  within  which  to  accomplish  the  work.  As  much 
of  the  material  which  I  should  wish  to  gather  for  the  purpose  must  be  found  scattered 


LEGISLATIVE   PROCEEDINGS. 


far  and  wide,  and  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature  are  already  considerably  advanced, 
this  becomes  a  question  upon  which  my  absolute  decision  must  turn.     1  should  be 
sorry  to  do  a  hurried  or  hasty  thing  upon  so  great  an  occasion. 
"  I  am,  very  truly, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS." 

SECOND  LETTER  TO  MR.  ADAMS.  • 

"  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  : 

"  SENATE  CHAMBER,  i 

"  ALBANY,  February  13,  1873.} 
"  Hon.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS, 

Boston,  Mass.  : 

"  Dear  Sit —  Your  letter  of  the  izth  accepting  the  invitation  contained  in  my  com 
munication  of  the  8th  instant,  to  deliver  an  address  on  the  late  WILUAM  H.  SEWARL>, 
before  the  New  York  Legislature,  was  received  this  morning,  and  laid  before  the 
joint  committee. 

"  In  reply,  I  beg  leave  to  state  that  the  committee  have  instructed  me  to  tender 
their  very  sincere  thanks  for  your  prompt  and  cordial  acceptance  of  their  invitation, 
and  to  inform  you  that  it  is  their  opinion  that  the  session  of  the  Legislature  will  not 
terminate  before  the  2oth  of  April. 

'•  The  committee,  therefore,  will  set  apart  for  the  memorial  occasion  any  day  prior 
to  that  time,  which  you  may  be  pleased  to  designate. 

"  Very  respectfully  and  obediently  yours, 

"JOHN  C.  PERRY, 
"  Chairman  of  Joint  Committee." 

The  day  finally  fixed  upon  for  the  memorial  pro 
ceedings  was  Friday,  the  1 8th  day  of  April  —  the 
exercises  to  be  held  in  the  North  Reformed  Church. 

On  the  day  designated,  the  Legislature  and  invited 
guests  assembled  at  the  Capitol,  and,  headed  by  his 
Excellency,  Governor  JOHN  A.  Dix,  and  staff,  pro 
ceeded  in  a  body  to  the  church,  where  the  follow 
ing  exercises  took  place,  his  Excellency  presiding, 
assisted  by  Lieutenant-Governor  JOHN  C.  ROBINSON, 
President  of  the  Senate,  and  the  Hon.  A.  B. 
CORNELL,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly. 


at  th* 


ORGAN.  —  IN  TROD  UCTOR  Y. 
QUARTETTE.  —  "How  Sleep  the  Brave," 

Arranged  by  J  .  R.  THOMAS. 

PRA  YER.  —  Ry  Rev.  RUFUS  W.  CLARK,  D.  D. 


Almighty  Father,  we  adore  Thee  as  the  Sovereign  of  the 
Universe,  the  source  of  our  being,  and  the  arbiter  of  our 
destiny.  We  worship  Thee  as  our  King,  and  render  thanks 
to  Thee  for  all  the  advantages  and  blessings  of  life.  We 
realize  our  entire  dependence  upon  Thee,  for  every  faculty 
of  our  nature,  and  gifts  of  Thy  providence  ;  and  we  seek  Thy 
guidance  in  our  daily  duties.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  gifts 
of  Thy  Son,  who  brought  with  Him  to  earth,  a  heart  that 
beat  in  sympathy  with  every  form  of  human  sorrow.  We 
rejoice,  that  standing  at  the  grave,  He  announced  Himself 
as  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  to  all  who  believe.  May 
we  have  faith  in  Him,  and  in  the  power  and  fruits  of  the 
Resurrection.  May  Thy  Holy  Spirit  descend  and  rest  upon 
this  vast  assemblage  ;  illuminating  every  heart,  and  making 
of  every  soul  a  temple  of  the  living  God.  Do  Thou  guide  in 
the  services  of  this  interesting  and  solemn  occasion.  While 
we  mourn  the  departure  of  Thy  servant,  whose  death  has 
summoned  us  here  to-day,  we  sorrow  not  as  those  who  have 
no  hope.  We  thank  Thee  for  His  pure  and  elevated  char 
acter;  for  the  rigid  integrity  associated  with  his  eminent 
natural  abilities  ;  for  his  devotion  to  human  rights,  and  the 
force  and  eloquence  with  which  he  defended  them.  We 


.XERCISES. 


bless  Thee  for  his  noble  contributions  to  the  cause  of 
national  liberty,  and  that  in  the  conflict  which  his  prophetic 
eye  saw  was  "  irrepressible,"  he  was  always  found  on  the 
side  of  justice,  humanity,  and  God.  Standing  on  the  plat 
form  of  human  rights  and  civil  freedom,  he  publicly  declared 
that  if  necessary,  he  would  stand  alone  ;  and  we  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  didst  stand  with  him,  to  sustain  him.  We  are 
grateful  to  Thee  for  his  reverence  for  religion ;  for  his  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  his  Saviour ;  for  his  interest  in 
the  church,  in  Christian  education,  and  in  all  enterprises 
that  contribute  to  the  extension  of  the  Redeemer's  King 
dom.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  didst  comfort  him  in  his 
last  hours,  and  that  the  hope  of  immortality  dawned  upon 
his  spirit,  as  he  departed  from  earth  to  Heaven. 

We  commend  to  Thee  the  bereaved  relatives  and  friends, 
beseeching  Thee  that  they  may  ever  trust  in  Thee,  and 
exercise  that  faith  in  Christ,  that  will  secure  a  reunion  with 
the  departed,  in  the  realms  of  the  blessed. 

We  invoke  Thy  blessing  upon  all  gathered  here  to-day, 
that  Thou  wouldst  aid  them  in  the  faithful  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  their  several  spheres.  Grant  that  our  rulers 
may  be  enriched  with  divine  grace,  inspired  with  pure 
patriotism,  and  be  qualified  to  administer  government  for 
the  best  good  of  the  people  and  the  honor  of  God.  Bless 
Thy  servant,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  those 
associated  with  him  in  authority ;  our  national  Senators 
and  Representatives,  and  all  holding  positions  of  public 
responsibility  and  trust.  May  our  Government  reflect  the 
principles  of  Thy  divine  government,  that  law  and  justice 
may  be  maintained,  liberty  preserved,  and  the  prosperity  of 
the  nation  secured.  Bless  Thy  servant,  the  Governor  of 
this  Commonwealth,  and  those  connected  with  him  in  the 


tXERCISES. 


administration  of  public  affairs.  We  render  thanks  to  Thee 
for  their  disposition  and  ability  to  maintain  the  laws  against 
crime;  and  that  while  they  would  gladly  extend  mercy  to  the 
penitent,  they  have  revealed  the  strength  of  the  Government 
to  protect  the  property,  rights  and  lives  of  its  loyal  citizens. 

Let  Thy  blessing  rest  upon  our  State  Senators  and 
Representatives,  that  they  may  be  inspired  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  integrity  and  a  pure,  lofty  patriotism.  May  all 
realize  that  any  advantage  or  gain,  secured  by  the  sacrifice 
of  principle,  ceases  to  be  an  advantage.  May  they  possess 
the  wealth  of  conscious  uprightness,  and  the  satisfaction  of 
having  faithfully  met  and  discharged  every  duty. 

Bless  Thy  servant,  providentially  called  to  address  us  to 
day.  We  thank  Thee  for  his  sympathy  with  the  principles 
and  character  of  the  illustrious  dead,  and  for  his  eminent 
services  rendered  to  the  Nation.  We  bless  Thee  that,  while 
enabled  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  American  people,  he 
aided  in  promoting  peace  between  two  nations  bound 
together  by  the  same  language  and  religion,  and  by  mutual 
desires  to  advance  civilization,  and  extend  the  Kingdom  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

We  pray  for  Thy  richest  blessings  to  descend  upon  the 
American  Republic.  We  thank  Thee  for  our  free  institxi- 
tions;  our  pure  religion  ;  our  system  of  popular  education ; 
our  social  and  domestic  advantages,  and  the  prosperity  we 
have  received  from  Thee.  Thou  didst  preserve  the  ship  of 
State  in  the  tempest  that  threatened  her  destruction,  and  we 
pray  that  divine  wisdom  may  continue  to  guide  us,  and 
Almighty  Power  continue  to  bless  us. 

And  now  we  seek  preparation  to  follow  our  departed 
friend,  whose  virtues  and  services  we  are  assembled  to 
commemorate.  Help  us  so  to  live  that  death  may  be  life. 

[2]  9 


tLXERCISES. 


May  the  music  of  angelic  hosts  and  songs  of  the  redeemed 
welcome  us  to  the  Heavenly  home.  May  we  gaze  with 
delight  upon  celestial  cities,  and  temples  of  divine  beauty, 
and  meeting  in  the  city  of  God,  with  a  great  multitude  that 
no  man  can  number,  we  will  ascribe  blessing  and  honor  and 
glory  and  power  unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and 
unto  the  Lamb,  forever  and  ever.  AMEN. 

ORGAN  SOLO.  —  "  Dead  March  in  Saul,"      -        Handel. 

READING  of  the  Memorial  Resolutions  of  the  Legislature. 
By  CHARLES  R.  DAYTON,  CLERK  OF  THE  SENATE. 

RECITATIVE  and  ARIA.—  "The  Trumpet  shall  Sound." 
Handel.     J.  R.  THOMAS. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  ORATOR. 

By  Gov.  JOHN  A.  Dix,  as  follows : 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  this  very  month,  and  within 
these  walls,  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD  delivered  a  memorial 
discourse  on  the  character  and  public  services  of  John 
Quincy  Adams.  And  to-day  the  son  of  Mr.  Adams  is  here 
to  pronounce  a  similar  discourse  on  Mr.  Seward.  Thus, 
with  these  two  kindred  ceremonies  are  associated  the  names 
of  three  eminent  statesmen,  who  have  shared  largely  in  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  their  countrymen,  and  who,  by 
their  distinguished  talents  and  the  purity  of  their  lives, 
have  contributed  as  largely  to  their  country's  welfare  and 
reputation.  I  present  to  you  the  Hon.  CHARLES  FRANCIS 
ADAMS. 

THE  HON.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS  then  delivered 
the  following  Address  : 
10 


THE  ADDRESS. 


FELLOW-PIT IZENS  OF  THE  ^SENATE  AND  ASSEMBLY 
OF  J^EW  JORK: 

You  have  honored  me  by  an  invitation  to  perform 
a  duty,  from  the  difficulty  of  which  I  shrink,  the 
closer  I  approach  it.  I  undertake  it  only  with  an 
assurance  that,  were  my  powers  equal  to  my  will,  I 
should  erect  a  monument  more  durable  than  marble 
or  brass. 

The  subject  is  fascinating,  from  the  wide  views 
which  it  opens  of  the  noblest  career  of  human  life, 
and  the  highest  aspirations  of  mortal  ambition. 
Whatever  may  be  the  value  of  the  modern  specula 
tions  touching  the  origin  of  man,  it  seems  quite  clear 
that  his  intellectual  stature  has  not  essentially 
changed  since  the  era  when  we  find,  in  Greece,  the 
most  difficult  social  problems  discussed  with  a  pro 
foundness  never  since  surpassed.  It  is  in  one  of  the 
familiar  dialogues  reported  by  the  philosopher  Plato 
as  having  been  held  by  Socrates,  with  his  disciples, 
that  the  question  is  gravely  presented  whether  such 

11 

i r 


THE    ADDRESS. 


a  union  be  possible,  in  one  and  the  same  individual, 
as  that  of  a  philosopher  and  a  statesman.  What 
this  combination  means  is  admirably  rendered  by  the 
latest  translator  in  these  words :  "  A  man  in  whom 
the  power  of  thought  and  action  is  perfectly  balanced, 
equal  to  the  present,  reaching  forward  to  the  future." 
The  conclusion  drawn  from  that  conversation  was 
that  such  a  person,  ruling  in  a  constitutional  state, 
had  not  yet  been  seen.  More  than  two  thousand 
years  have  elapsed  since  this  testimony  was  recorded, 
and  the  solution  of  the  problem,  with  the  added 
experience  of  an  historic  record,  embracing  the  lives 
of  sixty  generations  of  the  race,  far  more  widely 
observed  over  the  globe,  is  still  to  seek. 

HAS  THERE  EVER  BEEN  SUCH  A  MAN. 

Without  attempting  to  enter  upon  such  a  topic, 
demanding  a  life-time  of  research,  it  may,  perhaps,  be 
permitted  to  me  to  observe  that,  from  what  we  may 
learn  of  the  career  of  all  those  who  have  since  been 
competitors  in  this  noblest  of  human  pursuits,  it  is 
possible  for  us  to  deduce  some  general  laws  of  human 
action  valuable  to  bear  in  mind.  Praying  your 
pardon  for  my  boldness,  I  would,  then,  venture  to 
suggest  that,  by  a  comparison  of  the  multitude  of 
examples,  we  may  readily  reduce  them  all  to  a  classi 
fication  consisting  of  three  forms. 

The  first  and  lowest  of  these  embraces  all  those 


12 


t 


THE     ADDRESS. 


lives  in  which  power  has  been  exercised  mainly  for 
personal  ends,  with  little  regard  to  the  public  good. 
If  called  to  give  an  example  of  this  class,  I  should 
name  the  noted  Cleon,  of  Athens,  as  delineated  so 
forcibly  by  his  contemporaries,  Thucydides,  the 
historian,  and  Aristophanes,  the  dramatist.  But 
this  type  of  a  public  man,  called  a  demagogue  in  a 
democracy,  does  not  change  its  essence  by  transfer 
to  more  absolute  forms  of  government.  The  inter 
ested  flatterer  of  the  people  simply  puts  on  a  laced 
coat  and  becomes  the  courtier  of  a  monarch  or  any 
other  sovereign  power,  one  or  many.  Cleon,  stimu 
lating  the  passions  of  the  Athenians  to  the  massacre 
of  the  male  population  of  Mitylene,  was  only  work 
ing  for  his  own  influence,  just  as  Ashley  Cooper, 
Lord  Shaftesbury,  stimulating  the  treacherous  policy 
of  the  Second  Charles  in  Great  Britain, 

"The  pillars  of  the  public  safety  shook  ," 

and  just  as  Manuel  Godoy,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  by 
his  selfish  counsels  precipitated  the  fall  of  the  pitiful 
Charles  of  Spain. 

This,  then,  is  the  class  which  works  the  injury  of 
nations. 

The  next,  and  second  division,  includes  those  who 
with  pure  motives  and  equal  capacity  address  them 
selves  to  the  work  of  maintaining  the  existing  state 
of  things  as  it  is.  Their  aim  is  to  reenforce  estab- 


13 


THE     ADDRESS. 


lished  ideas,  and  confirm  ancient  institutions.  Of 
this  type  I  would  specify  as  examples,  Cicero  in 
antiquity,  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  Cardinal  Mazarin, 
Prince  Kaunitz,  in  later  times. 

2.  This  is  the  class  which  sustains  nations. 

The  third  and  last  division  consists  of  those  who, 
possessing  a  creative  force,  labor  to  advance  the  con 
dition  of  their  fellow-men.  Of  such  I  find  a  type 
in  Pericles,  in  Gregory  I,  and  in  Cardinal  Richelieu. 

3.  This  is  the  class  which  develops  nations. 
Measuring  the  life  of  WILLIAM  HENRY  SEWARD 

by  this  scale,  I  have  no  scruple  in  enrolling  his  name 
in  the  third  and  highest  class.  In  my  mind  his  case 
bears  analogy  to  that  of  Pericles*  with  this  difference, 
that  the  sphere  of  his  action  was  one  by  the  side  of 
which  that  of  the  other  dwindles  into  nothing. 

On  this  occasion  it  is  not  my  design  to  follow  the 
common  course  of  a  purely  chronological  narrative. 
It  would  absorb  too  much  time ;  besides  which,  that 
work  has  been  already  well  done  by  others  who  have 
preceded  me.  It  will  suffice  to  state  that  Mr. 
Seward  was  born  with  the  century,  and  issued  from 
the  college  at  Schenectady  at  the  age  of  nineteen. 
Three  years  passed  in  the  customary  probation  of  a 
lawyer's  office  gave  him  his  profession,  and  one  year 


*  Any  reader  curious  to  know  more  of  the  grounds  for  this  opinion  is 
referred  to  the  character  given  of  this  statesman  by  Grote.  History  of 
Greece,  volume  v,  pp.  435-9. 


THE     ADDRESS. 


more  found  him  married.  In  the  words  of  the 
sagacious  Lord  of  Verulam,  he  had  "  given  hostages 
to  fortune"  and  very  early  "assumed  impediments  to 
great  enterprises,  whether  of  virtue  or  mischief." 
From  that  moment  he  could  hope  to  enlarge  the 
basis  of  his  imperfect  education  only  by  snatching 
what  he  might  out  of  the  intervals  of  rest  in  a  busy  life. 
Hence  it  becomes  proper  to  assume  that,  in  the  just 
sense  of  the  word,  Mr.  Seward  was  never  a  learned 
man.  In  the  ardor  with  which  he  rushed  into  affairs, 
the  wonder  is  that  he  acquired  what  he  did.  To  his 
faculty  of  rapid  digestion  of  what  he  could  read,  he 
was  indebted  for  the  attainments  he  actually  mastered. 

For  it  should  be  further  remarked  that,  though 
he  faithfully  applied  himself  to  his  profession,  it  was 
not  an  occupation  congenial  to  his  taste.  On  the 
contrary,  he  held  it  in  aversion.  He  felt  in  himself 
a  capacity  to  play  a  noble  part  on  the  more  spacious 
theater  of  State  affairs.  His  aspiration  was  for  the 
fame  of  a  statesman,  and,  in  indulging  this  propensity, 
he  committed  no  mistake. 

The  chief  characteristic  of  his  mind  was  its  breadth 
of  view.  In  this  sense  he  was  a  philosopher  study 
ing  politics.  He  began  by  forming  for  himself  a 
general  idea  of  government,  by  which  all  questions 
of  a  practical  nature  that  came  up  for  consideration 
were  to  be  tested.  This  naturally  led  him  to  prefer 
the  field  of  legislation  to  that  of  administration, 

18 


THE     ADDRESS. 


though  he  proved  equally  skillful  in  both.  Almost 
simultaneously  with  his  marriage,  he  appeared  ready 
to  launch  into  the  political  conflicts  of  the  hour. 
Commencing  in  his  small  way,  he  rose  by  easy 
degrees  into  the  atmosphere  of  statesmanship.  I 
distinguish  between  these  conditions,  not  to  derogate 
from  either.  In  our  past  experience  there  have  been 
many  politicians  who  have  not  become  statesmen. 
So,  also,  there  have  been  many  statesmen  who  were 
never  politicians.  Mr.  Seward  was  equally  at  home 
in  both  positions. 

But,  inasmuch  as  this  made  up  the  true  career 
which  he  followed,  I  am  driven  to  the  necessity  of 
considering  it  almost  exclusively.  And,  while  so 
doing,  I  am  also  constrained  to  plunge  more  or  less 
deeply  into  the  Serbonian  bog  of  obsolete  party 
politics.  I  am  not  insensible  to  the  nature  of  the 
difficulties  under  which  I  labor  in  an  exposition  of 
this  kind.  On  the  one  side  I  run  a  risk  of  trying 
your  patience  by  tedious  reference  to  stale  excite 
ments  ;  and  on  the  other,  of  raking  over  the  ashes 
of  fires  still  holding  heat  enough  to  burn.  All  I  can 
say  in  excuse  is  that,  in  my  belief,  no  correct  delinea 
tion  of  the  course  of  this  eminent  leader  can  be 
made  without  it.  Permit  me  only  to  add  a  promise 
that,  in  whatever  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say,  it  will  be 
my  endeavor  to  be  guided  by  as  calm  and  impartial 
a  spirit  as  the  lot  of  humanity  will  admit.  Happily, 

16 


ADDRESS. 


my  purpose  is  facilitated  at  this  moment,  by  the  fact 
that  the  passions  which  so  fiercely  raged  during  the 
period  I  am  to  review  are  in  a  measure  laid  asleep 
by  the  removal  of  the  chief  causes  which  set  them 
in  motion. 

The  political  history  of  the  country  under  its 
present  form  of  government  naturally  divides  itself 
into  two  periods  of  nearly  equal  length.  The  first 
embraces  the  administration  of  the  first  five  presi 
dents,  and  the  settlement  of  the  principles  upon  which 
a  policy  was  guided,  as  well  at  home  as  abroad.  But 
by  reason  of  the  almost  continuous  embarrassments 
occasioned  by  the  violent  conflicts  then  raging  over 
the  entire  Continent  of  Europe,  the  agitation  of 
parties  had  its  chief  source  in  conflicting  views  of 
foreign  rather  than  domestic  questions.  Hence  it 
came  to  a  natural  end  with  the  reestablishment  of 
a  general  peace.  The  foundation  of  parties  having 
failed,  there  followed  an  interval  of  harmony,  which, 
at  the  time,  was  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  era  of 
good  feelings." 

Suddenly  there  sprang  up  a  contest,  wholly  new 
in  its  nature,  the  first  sound  of  which  the  veteran 
Jefferson,  in  his  retreat  at  Monticello,  likened  to  that 
of  a  fire-bell  at  night.  The  territory  of  Missouri 
wished  to  be  organized,  and  admitted  into  the  Union 
as  a  State.  An  effort  was  made  to  affix  a  condition 
that  negro  slavery  should  not  be  permitted  there. 

[3]  17 


J 


HE     ADDRESS. 


The  line  of  division  between  the  free  and  the  slave- 
holding  States  was  at  once  defined,  and,  for  a  time, 
the  battle  was  fought  in  the  halls  of  Congress  with 
the  greatest  pertinacity.  With  equal  suddenness  the 
quarrel  was  appeased  by  the  adoption  of  a  proposal 
denominated  "  a  compromise,"  and  matters  seemed 
again  to  settle  down  in  the  old  way. 

The  general  election  for  the  presidency  followed. 
The  evidence  of  the  complete  disorganization  of 
parties  was  made  visible  in  the  multiplication  of  the 
candidates.  Five  aspirants  were  brought  forward  by 
their  respective  friends,  four  out  of  the  five  from  the 
slave-holding  States.  In  this  state  of  distraction,  it 
was  not  unnatural  that  the  single  candidate  from  the 
free  States  should  have  an  advantage.  He  was  elected. 

But  four  years  later  appeared  a  very  different  state 
of  things.  The  slave-holding  States  had  then  con 
centrated  on  their  most  popular  candidate,  and, 
forming  an  alliance  with  a  large  section  of  the 
popular  party  in  the  North,  they  effected  a  complete 
establishment  of  their  power.  Here  is  the  origin  of 
the  division  of  parties  which  prevailed  for  more  than 
thirty  years.  But  it  should  be  noted  that  this  was 
predicated  upon  the  basis  of  what  was  called  "  the 
compromise "  established  by  the  Missouri  question, 
and  a  consequent  tacit  understanding  that  the 
subject  of  negro  slavery  was  to  be  as  much  excluded 
from  political  discussion  as  if  it  did  not  exist. 

18 


THE     ADDRESS. 


The  great  State  of  New  York  had,  by  a  division 
of  its  electoral  votes,  contributed  little  or  nothing  to 
the  triumph.  But,  after  the  decisive  result,  an 
organization  followed,  which,  by  pledging  itself  to 
the  fortunes  of  the  new  dynasty,  succeeded  in  main 
taining  its  ascendency  for  many  years.  This  claimed 
to  be  the  popular,  or  Democratic,  party.  In  opposi 
tion  were  soon  arrayed  the  class,  in  the  free  States, 
leaning  to  conservative  opinions  in  all  questions 
connected  with  the  security  of  property ;  and  with 
them  were  combined  under  the  leadership  of  an 
eminent  statesman  of  the  West,  Henry  Clay,  so 
much  of  the  population  of  that  section  as  could  be 
attracted  to  his  banner.  This  was  finally  known  as 
the  Whig  party.  It  follows  from  this  statement  that 
the  issues  made  between  these  parties  were  mainly 
confined  to  superficial  questions  of  management  of 
the  public  affairs  or  the  construction  of  Federal 
powers.  Hence  it  happened,  singularly  enough,  that, 
for  a  considerable  period  of  time,  the  disputes  were 
turned  in  a  direction  which  had  no  reference  what 
ever  to  the  most  serious  part  of  the  policy  upon 
which  the  Government  was  secretly  acting.  That 
policy  was  the  extension  of  the  slave-holding  power 
by  gaining  new  territory  over  which  to  spread  it. 

For  it  should  be  observed  that,  while  a  profound 
silence  was  observed  at  home,  the  new  Administra 
tion  had  not  been  long  settled  in  its  place,  before 

19 


THE     ADDRESS. 


secret  agencies  were  set  in  motion,  through  the 
diplomatic  department,  to  procure  expansion  in  the 
direction  in  which  this  object  could  be  the  most 
easily  effected.  This  pointed  southwest  to  Texas, 
a  territory  then  forming  a  part  of  the  Mexican 
Republic. 

Such  being  the  state  of  things  at  the  outset  of 
Mr.  Se ward's  career,  the  first  thing  necessary  for  him 
to  do  was  to  choose  his  side.  Under  his  father's 
roof  the  influences  naturally  carried  him  to  sympa 
thize  with  the  old  Jeffersonian  party  on  the  one 
hand,  while  the  relics  of  the  slave-system  remaining 
in  the  family  as  house-servants,  the  least  repulsive 
form  of  that  relation,  seemed  little  likely  to  inspire 
in  him  much  aversion  to  it  on  the  other.  Neverthe 
less,  he  early  formed  his  conclusions  adversely  to  the 
organization  in  New  York  professing  to  be  the 
successors  of  the  Jefferson  school,  and  not  less  so  to 
the  perpetuation  of  slavery  anywhere.  The  reason 
for  this  is  obvious.  With  his  keen  perception  of  the 
operation  of  general  principles,  he  penetrated  at  once 
the  fact  that  the  resurrection,  in  this  form,  of  the 
old  party  was  not  only  hollow,  but  selfish.  It  looked 
to  him  somewhat  like  a  close  corporation,  made  for 
the  purpose  of  dealing  in  popular  doctrines,  not  so 
much  for  the  public  benefit  as  for  that  of  the  indi 
vidual  directors.  Moreover,  it  became  clear  that, 
among  those  doctrines,  that  of  freedom  to  the  slave 

20 


THE     ADDRESS. 


was  rigorously  excluded  by  reason  of  the  bond  of 
union  entered  into  with  his  masters  at  the  South. 
In  reality,  he  was,  in  principle,  too  democratic  for 
the  Democrats.  Hence,  he  waged  incessant  war 
against  this  form  of  oligarchy  down  to  the  hour 
when  it  was  finally  broken  up. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  selection  of  the  more  con 
servative  side,  which  he  finally  made,  was  one  not 
unattended  with  difficulty.  The  idea  of  a  popular 
form  of  government  which  he  had  built  up  in  his 
own  mind  was  one  of  the  most  expansive  kind.  He 
applied  it  to  our  system,  and  saw  at  once  the  means 
of  its  development  almost  indefinitely.  In  the 
variety  of  details  as  they  passed  before  him,  whether 
it  was  legislation,  education,  immigration,  internal  or 
external  communication,  personal  or  religious  liberty, 
social  equalization,  or  national  expansion,  he  viewed 
the  treatment  of  all  in  his  large,  generalizing  way, 
always  subject,  however,  to  the  regulation  of  general 
laws.  In  this  he  was  conservative,  that  he  sought  to 
change,  only  the  better  to  expand  on  a  wider  scale. 
Neither  by  liberty  did  he  ever  mean  license.  So  far 
as  I  can  comprehend  the  true  sense  of  the  word 
"  democracy,"  I  have  never  found  my  idea  more 
broadly  developed  than  by  him.  It  is  far  more  practi 
cal  than  any  thing  ever  taught  by  Jefferson,  and  throws 
into  deep  shadow  the  performances  of  most  of  his 
modern  disciples.  The  alternative  to  which  he  was 


21 


HE     ADDRESS. 


J 


driven  was  not  without  embarrassments,  which  he 
soon  had  occasion  to  feel.  In  allying  himself  with 
a  party  in  which  conservative  views  had  more  or  less 
positive  control,  he  could  not  fail  to  understand  that 
his  doctrines  would  sometimes  inspire  many  of  his 
associates  with  distrust,  and  some  with  absolute  dis 
like,  even  though  they  might  tolerate  a  union  for 
the  sake  of  the  obvious  advantage  of  his  effective 
abilities.  In  point  of  fact,  he  soon  became  a  repre 
sentative  of  the  younger,  the  ardent,  and  the  liberal 
division,  which  favored  a  policy  more  in  harmony 
with  the  nature  of  our  institutions  than  suited  the 
adherents  to  long  established  ideas.  Yet  these  were 
not  long  in  finding  out  that  he  was  possessed  of 
powers  to  direct  the  popular  sense,  which,  on  the 
whole,  it  was  not  expedient  for  them  to  neglect. 
Presently  an  occasion  made  him  prominent  in  the 
State  elections.  The  inconsistency,  which  he  could 
not  fail  to  expose,  of  the  power  of  secret  societies 
with  popular  institutions,  as  illustrated  in  the  well- 
known  story  of  the  abduction  and  death  of  Morgan, 
made  him,  first,  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  this 
State,  and  afterward  raised  him  to  be  the  Governor 
for  two  terms.  In  all  this  public  service  he  is  found 
boldly  adhering  to  his  broad  views,  even  when  they 
were  so  much  in  advance  as  actually  to  conflict  with 
popular  prejudices.  He  led  so  far  that  few  could 
keep  pace  with  him.  Some  even  jeered,  and  many 

22 

i r 


THE     ADDRESS. 


absolutely  denounced  him.  The  opposition  was  so 
stubborn,  at  last,  that  he  decided  to  withdraw  from 
the  field.  Yet  the  period  soon  arrived  when  the 
wisdom  of  his  course  came  to  be  fully  recognized, 
and  the  disputed  points  of  his  policy  firmly  estab 
lished. 

I  very  much  fear  lest  in  this  analysis  I  may  have 
much  too  seriously  fatigued  your  attention.  Yet, 
without  it,  I  am  convinced  that  I  cannot  illustrate 
the  various  phenomena  of  Mr.  Seward's  public  life, 
or  point  out  the  difficulties  through  which  he  was 
perpetually  working  his  way. 

Now  begins  to  be  felt  beneath  our  feet  the  first 
tremulous  motion  of  what  ultimately  proved  the 
great  earthquake  that  shook  the  party  organizations 
to  pieces.  I  have  already  alluded  to  the  first  hidden 
overture  made  by  General  Jackson  to  the  Govern 
ment  of  Mexico,  through  the  agency  of  Anthony 
Butler.  Failing  in  this  intrigue  to  get  the  territory 
desired  by  purchase,  the  next  stroke  was  to  endeavor 
to  steal  it  by  the  indirect  process  of  colonizing 
emigration.  I  have  no  time  to  dwell  on  the  details 
of  that  nefarious  transaction,  which,  partially  checked 
by  the  prudent  timidity  of  Martin  Van  Buren, 
revived  with  vigor  under  the  pseudo*-presidency  of 


*This  word  is  intended  to  signify  a  doubt  whether  the  decision  hastily 
made  in  this  case  by  irresponsible  persons  was  a  just  one.  It  is  much 
to  be  regretted  that  the  precise  position  of  the  Vice- President,  in  such 
an  emergency,  had  not  been  determined  by  the  Supreme  Court.  In  at 

23 


THE     ADDRESS. 


John  Tyler,  and  was  ultimately  consummated  with 
the  sanction  of  James  K.  Polk. 

But  this  daring  policy,  however  well  covered  at 
its  outset,  did  not  fail  gradually  to  fix  upon  it  the 
attention  of  numbers  of  the  calmest  and  most 
moderate  thinkers  of  the  country  least  bound  by  the 
fetters  of  either  political  school.  Taken  in  connec 
tion  with  the  arbitrary  spirit  manifested  by  the  efforts 
to  suppress  by  popular  violence  the  proceedings  of 
a  handful  of  enthusiasts,  who  only  claimed  their 
unquestionable  right  to  express  in  public  their  objec 
tions  to  the  whole  system  of  slavery,  whether  at 
home  or  abroad,  their  eyes  began  to  open  to  the 
realization  of  how  far  the  action  of  the  Government 
and  people  had  drifted  from  the  original  principles 
with  which  it  started.  Very  slowly  at  first,  but 
steadily  afterward,  the  public  sentiment  went  on 
gathering  sufficient  force  to  make  itself  an  object  of 
attention  to  the  leading  men  of  the  two  parties.  For 
some  years,  the  ordinary  discipline,  so  thoroughly 
established  among  our  habits,  continued  to  resist 
even  the  heaviest  strain  which  the  slave-holding 
alliance  thought  proper  to  place  upon  it.  But  the 
moment  came  when  the  assumption  of  the  right 
absolutely  to  control  the  expression  of  the  sense  of 


least  one  of  the  three  contingencies  provided  by  the  Constitution,  he 
could  be  only  u  temporary  agent.  It  seems  to  me  he  should  have  been 
so  regarded  in  all. 

24 


THE     ADDRESS. 


the  people,  in  the  form  of  respectful  petition  to  their 
own  representatives,  proved  a  burden  too  heavy  to 
bear.  The  cord  then  snapped,  and  from  that  date 
the  disintegration  of  the  old  organization  may  be 
observed  steadily  hastening  to  its  close. 

The  sentiment  of  Mr.  Seward  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  had  been  early  expressed.  Previously  to 
graduating  at  college,  he  had  passed  six  months  in 
the  State  of  Georgia,  but  he  seems  not  to  have  been 
converted  by  his  experience  to  any  faith  in  the  sys 
tem.  His  first  public  demonstration  was  made  in  a 
Fourth-of-July  oration,  delivered  at  Auburn,  when 
he  was  twenty-four  years  old.  The  passage  is  suffi 
ciently  striking,  in  view  of  our  later  history,  to  merit 
quotation  here.  Speaking  of  the  Union :  "  Those, 
too,"  he  says,  "  misapprehend  either  the  true  interest 
of  the  people  of  these  States,  or  their  intelligence, 
who  believe  or  profess  to  believe  that  a  separation 
will  ever  take  place  between  the  North  and  the 
South.  The  people  of  the  North  have  been  seldom 
suspected  of  a  want  of  attachment  to  the  Union, 
and  those  of  the  South  have  been  much  misrepre 
sented  by  a  few  politicians  of  a  stormy  character, 
who  have  ever  been  unsupported  by  the  people  there. 
The  North  will  not  willingly  give  up  the  power  they 
now  have  in  the  national  councils,  of  gradually  com 
pleting  a  work  of  which,  whether  united  or  separate, 
from  proximity  of  territory,  we  shall  ever  be  inter- 


THE     ADDRESS. 


ested  —  the  emancipation  of  slaves.  And  the  South 
will  never,  in  a  moment  of  resentment,  expose  them 
selves  to  a  war  with  the  North  while  they  have  such 
a  great  domestic  population  of  slaves  ready  to  em 
brace  any  opportunity  to  assert  their  freedom,  and 
inflict  their  revenge."  In  this  passage,  the  deliberate 
claim  of  a  power  in  the  Federal  Government  to 
emancipate  slaves  by  legislation  is  not  less  remarkable 
than  the  miscalculation  of  the  force  of  the  passions 
which  led  the  South,  in  the  end,  to  the  very  step 
that  brought  on  the  predicted  consequences.  Yet 
in  his  conclusion  he  proved  a  prophet.  But  he  then 
could  little  have  foreseen  the  share  he  was  to  have 
in  controlling  the  final  convulsion. 

Mr.  Seward  terminated  his  career  as  a  State  poli 
tician  with  a  very  elaborate  exposition  of  his  views 
of  policy,  presented  with  great  ability.  It  was  wise 
in  him  to  retreat,  leaving  such  a  legacy,  for  he  thus 
escaped  complications  with  local  interests  and  rival 
jealousies,  which  render  perseverance  in  purely  local 
struggles  such  a  thankless  labor.  It  was  this  error 
which  for  a  long  time  impaired  the  usefulness  of 
another  great  statesman  of  New  York,  De  Witt 
Clinton.  From  this  date,  Mr.  Seward  remained 
several  years  in  private  life,  steadily  pursuing  his 
profession.  The  course  of  public  affairs  had  not 
proved  propitious  to  his  party.  The  gleam  of  light 
shed  by  the  success  of  General  Harrison,  in  the 

26 


THE     ADDRESS. 


presidential  election,  had  turned  to  darkness  by  his 
death,  and  the  consequent  succession  of  John  Tyler. 
Then  followed  the  sharply-disputed  election  of  1844, 
when,  for  the  first  time,  was  taught  to  the  manipula 
tors  of  nominations  a  new  precedent  by  which  to 
regulate  their  policy.  The  lesson  was  this:  That 
between  a  man  of  proved  abilities,  marked  character, 
and  long  services,  like  Henry  Clay,  on  the  one  side, 
and  one  comparatively  unknown,  with  a  brief,  insig 
nificant  career,  like  James  K.  Polk,  as  candidates  for 
the  presidency,  the  majority  of  the  people  will  prefer 
the  one  against  whom  the  least  can  be  said.  I  shall 
have  to  recur  to  this  matter  by-and-by  in  another  form. 
But  there  was  another  and  still  more  significant 
lesson  taught  to  politicians  on  this  occasion :  This 
was,  that  the  party  organizations  founded  upon  a 
compromise,  excluding  the  vital  issue  affecting  the 
country,  were  about  to  meet  with  another  shock. 
The  final  accomplishment  of  the  scheme  of  enlarging 
the  slave-holding  region,  by  the  acquisition  of  Texas, 
was  well  understood  to  be  certain,  in  the  event  of 
the  election  of  Mr.  James  K.  Polk.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  course  likely  to  be  taken,  should  Mr.  Clay 
prove  the  victor,  was  left  uncertain.  A  demand  to 
know  his  sentiments  was  made  so  imperative  that  it 
was  not  deemed  by  him  prudent  to  evade  it.  Yet, 
a  rent  in  the  party  was  almost  sure  to  follow,  what 
ever  might  be  his  conclusion.  The  result  was  a  weak 


27 


THE     ADDRESS. 


attempt,  in  a  letter,  to  reconcile  opinions  which  had 
become  too  discordant  to  permit  of  such  treatment. 
Mr.  Sevvard,  though  he  faithfully  adhered  to  the  party, 
was  too  sagacious  not  to  foresee  the  effect  upon  that 
portion  of  it  with  which  he  most  sympathised  at 
home.  A  defection  of  sixteen  thousand  voters  in 
New  York  turned  the  scale,  and  Mr.  Polk  was 
elevated  to  power.  This  was  the  first  considerable 
fissure  made  in  the  existing  parties,  and  it  inured 
to  the  benefit  of  the  so-called  Democracy.  But 
their  turn  came  around  next  time,  when  they  were 
wrecked  on  the  same  rock.  Such  was  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  persevering  in  the  maintenance  of 
a  division  wholly  superficial  and  evasive  of  the  real 
and  true  issue — the  permanence  of  the  slave-holding 
supremacy. 

The  consequences  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Polk 
were  very  serious.  Not  only  was  the  State  of  Texas 
introduced,  but  a  war  with  Mexico  followed,  and  a 
much  larger  acquisition  of  territory  at  the  peace  than 
had  been  originally  contemplated.  The  engineer 
had  been  "  hoist  with  his  own  petard."  The  success 
of  the  war  had  naturally  brought  into  notice  the 
military  leaders  who  most  contributed  to  it.  The 
election  of  1829  established  another  precedent  for 
the  guidance  of  parties,  which  had  been  confirmed 
by  the  experience  of  1840.  This  was  in  effect  that, 
as  between  a  civilian  and  a  soldier,  both  of  them  of 


THE     ADDRESS. 


marked  character,  and  of  abilities  proved  by  suf 
ficient  service,  the  people  prefer  the  soldier.  General 
Taylor  had  very  much  distinguished  himself  by  his 
Mexican  campaign,  and  the  Whig  party  seized  the 
earliest  opportunity  of  enlisting  him  in  its  ranks. 
All  the  old  statesmen  were  set  aside,  to  press  him 
into  the  arena,  and,  under  a  military  banner,  once 
more  to  overcome  the  Democrats,  as  had  been  done 
with  Harrison.  But,  unluckily  for  the  harmony  of 
the  movement,  it  came  out  that  Taylor  was  a  planter 
holding  many  slaves,  in  one  of  the  richest  cotton- 
producing  States.  The  notion  of  setting  up  such  a 
candidate  in  connection  with  an  anti-slavery  policy 
advocated  by  numbers  of  the  party,  seemed  at  first 
blush  too  preposterous  to  be  countenanced  for  a 
moment.  Yet  it  must  be  conceded  that  Mr.  Seward 
undertook  the  difficult  task  of  advocating  the  incon 
sistency.  I  will  frankly  confess  that  I  was  one 
among  many  of  his  friends  in  New  England  who 
could  not  become  reconciled  to  the  contradiction 
apparent  in  this  proceeding.  We  had  reluctantly 
acquiesced  in  the  ambiguous  policy  of  Mr.  Clay  four 
years  before  ;  but  when  it  came  to  this,  that  we  were 
called  to  give  even  a  tacit  ratification  of  the  series 
of  revolting  measures  that  followed,  including  the 
Mexican  war,  and  still  more  to  elevate  to  the  highest 
post  of  the  country,  as  a  reward  for  his  services,  a 
slave-holder  having  every  possible  inducement  to 


THE     ADDRESS. 


y 


perpetuate  the  evil  of  which  we  complained,  it 
proved  a  heavier  load  than  we  could  bear.  The 
consequence  was  a  very  considerable  secession  from 
the  party,  and  an  effort  to  bring  before  the  public  an 
independent  nomination.  This  was  carried  out  in 
what  has  ever  since  been  remembered  as  the  Buffalo 
Convention.  Simultaneously  with  this  movement, 
a  similar  one  had  been  made  in  the  Democratic 
party,  a  section  of  which  of  considerable  force  in 
New  York,  dissatisfied  with  the  nomination  of  Lewis 
Cass,  ultimately  consented  to  make  a  part  of  the 
same  assembly.  The  end  was  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  and  a  declaration,  for  the  first  time,  of  a 
system  of  policy  distinctly  founded  upon  the  true 
issues  agitating  the  country. 

But,  however  the  fact  may  be  in  the  details  of 
ordinary  life,  it  is  quite  certain  that,  in  the  conflicts 
of  politics,  the  persons  who  try  the  hardest  to  press 
straight  forward  to  their  object  not  unfrequently  find 
themselves  landed  at  the  end  of  the  opposite  road. 
The  effect  of  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  was 
to  make  us,  his  opponents,  contribute  to  the  triumph 
of  General  Taylor,  more  decisively  than  if  we  had 
voted  for  him  directly.  This  it  was  that  proved  the 
wisdom  of  Mr.  Seward  in  holding  back  from  our 
action. 

Yet,  with  the  success  of  General  Taylor,  the  posi 
tion  in  which  Mr.  Seward  found  himself  seems  to 

so 


THE     ADDRESS. 


me,  even  now,  to  have  been  the  most  critical  one  in 
his  life.  He  had  in  the  canvass  allowed  himself  to 
be  freely  used  as  an  instrument  to  conciliate  num 
bers  of  his  friends,  strongly  tempted  to  secede.  In 
order  to  retain  them  he  had  to  hold  fast  to  his  own 
ground,  and  even  to  give  assurance  of  his  confidence 
that  it  would  be  ultimately  sustained  in  case  of  vic 
tory.  I  have  lately  read  with  care  such  reports  of 
his  speeches  during  that  canvass  as  I  could  find ;  and 
from  that  perusal  I  am  constrained  to  admit  that, 
much  as  I  doubted  his  good  faith  at  the  time,  I  can 
not  perceive  any  failure  in  consistency  or  in  com 
mitting  himself  to  any  policy  which  might  follow, 
adverse  to  the  expectations  he  held  out  In  other 
words,  he  kept  himself  free  to  influence  it  favorably 
if  he  could,  or  to  disavow  it  if  it  should  prove  to  be 
adverse.  It  was  an  honest,  though  not  altogether  a 
safe,  position  in  case  of  success.  General  Taylor  was 
made  President,  and  simultaneously  Mr.  Seward  was, 
for  the  first  time,  transferred  from  the  field  of  State 
to  that  of  National  affairs.  He  came  into  the  Sen 
ate  of  the  United  States,  not  to  leave  it  for  twelve 
years.  He  came  under  circumstances  of  no  trifling 
embarrassment.  The  new  President  was  at  the  time 
utterly  unknown  to  the  public  men,  and  especially 
to  him.  He  had  been  elected  by  a  party  still  greatly 
divided  in  sentiment  upon  the  grave  questions  about 
to  come  up  for  a  decision.  The  chance  of  the  pre- 

31 


J 


HE     ADDRESS. 


ponderance  of  a  policy  favorable  to  freedom  was  by 
no  means  flattering.  An  inexperienced  President  is 
obliged  to  consume  much  of  his  early  days  in  office 
in  correcting  the  mistakes  he  commits,  before  he 
gets  to  an  understanding  with  his  advisers.  I  am 
very  sure  that  Mr.  Seward  felt  for  some  time  quite 
uncertain  what  the  issue  would  be.  Every  thing 
depended  upon  the  natural  powers  of  General  Taylor 
to  distinguish  the  true  from  the  false  path.  Happily 
for  Mr.  Seward,  he  determined  to  be  guided  by  his 
counsel. 

A  tract  of  territory  had  been  acquired  by  the  war 
far  more  spacious  than  had  been  contemplated  by 
the  originators  of  the  policy,  and  now  the  question 
came  up  whether  all  of  the  excess  should  be  dedi 
cated  to  the  use  of  freemen,  or  of  masters  and  serv 
ants,  as  Texas  had  been.  In  other  words,  should 
slavery  be  tolerated  and  extended  indefinitely  ? 
Early  measures  had  been  taken  to  pave  the  way  for 
it,  by  abrogating  such  portions  of  the  existing  Mex 
ican  law  as  might  seem  in  conflict  with  it.  But  the 
President  determined  to  give  no  countenance  to  that 
policy,  and  Mr.  Seward  was  left  at  liberty  to  come 
forward  at  once  as  an  independent  champion  of 
freedom. 

It  was  a  critical  moment  in  the  great  struggle, 
out  of  which  the  Government  was  to  issue  either  as 
an  oligarchy,  controlling  all  things  in  the  interest  of 

32 


THE     ADDRESS. 


y 


a  class,  or  else  in  a  fuller  development  in  harmony 
with  the  declared  objects  of  its  first  construction. 
A  remarkable  number  of  men  of  superior  abilities 
had  been  collected  in  the  Senate  just  at  this 
moment,  all  of  whom  had  grown  gray  under  the 
existing  organization  of  parties,  and  were  little  dis 
posed  to  favor  innovations.  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr. 
Clay,  though  widely  differing  on  other  points,  equally 
relucted  at  the  agitation  of  slavery.  Mr.  Webster, 
on  his  part,  never  could  make  up  his  mind  to  meet 
it  fully  in  the  face.  All  manifested  a  desire  to  resort 
once  more  to  some  form  of  compromise,  synony 
mous  with  a  practical  concession  to  the  slave-holding 
pretensions.  The  immediate  question  was  upon  the 
admission  of  the  newly-acquired  Territory  of  Califor 
nia  into  the  Union  as  a  free  State.  The  advocates 
of  slavery  insisted  upon  tacking  to  it  conditions 
inuring  to  the  support  of  their  system  in  other 
respects,  as  a  consideration  proper  to  be  granted  for 
their  acquiescence.  In  other  words,  it  was  another 
bargain  to  uphold  slavery.  And  now,  for  the  first 
time,  Mr.  Seward  came  forth  on  the  great  national 
arena  to  try  his  strength  against  his  formidable  com 
petitors.  Three  successive  speeches  —  one  on  the 
nth  of  March,  the  next  on  the  2d  of  July,  and  the 
last  on  the  nth  of  September,  of  the  year  1850  — 
displayed  in  the  clearest  light  his  whole  policy  on 
this  vital  subject.  At  the  very  outset  he  declared 

[6]  33 


HE      ADDRESS 


J 


himself  opposed  to  a  compromise  in  any  and  all  the 
forms  in  which  it  had  been  proposed ;  and  he  followed 
up  the  words  with  a  close  argument  against  each  of 
those  forms.  He  then  went  on  boldly  to  grapple 
with  the  oft-repeated  threats  of  disunion,  as  a  con 
sequence  of  emancipation,  in  a  manner  rarely  heard 
before  in  that  hall.  Casting  off  the  shackles  of  party 
discipline,  he  used  these  memorable  words :  "  Here, 
then,  is  the  point  of  my  separation  from  both  of 
these  parties.  I  feel  assured  that  slavery  must  give 
way,  and  will  give  way,  to  the  salutary  instructions 
of  economy  and  to  the  ripening  influences  of  human 
ity;  that  emancipation  is  inevitable,  and  is  NEAR; 
that  it  may  be  hastened  or  hindered ;  and,  whether 
it  shall  be  peaceful  or  violent,  depends  upon  the 
question  whether  it  be  hastened  or  hindered :  that 
all  measures  which  fortify  slavery  or  extend  it  tend 
to  the  consummation  of  violence ;  all  that  check  its 
extension  and  abate  its  strength  tend  to  its  peaceful 
extirpation.  But  I  will  adopt  none  but  lawful,  con- 
stitutional,  and  peaceful  means  to  secure  even  that 
end  ;  and  none  such  can  I  or  will  I  forego?  Pro 
phetic  words,  indeed,  which  it  would  have  been  well 
had  they  been  properly  heeded  at  the  time  by  the 
besotted  men  who,  ten  years  later,  rushed  upon  their 
own  ruin. 

It  was  in  this  speech,  also,  that  he  enunciated  the 
doctrine  of   a   higher   law   than   the    Constitution, 


84, 


THE     ADDRESS. 


which  gave  rise  to  an  infinite  amount  of  outcry  from 
even  a  very  respectable  class  of  people,  who  were 
shocked  at  the  license  thought  to  be  implied  by  such 
an  appeal.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  no  truth  is  more 
obvious  than  this,  that  all  powers  of  government 
and  legislation  are  closely  restricted  within  a  limita 
tion  beyond  which  they  cannot  pass  without  being 
stripped  of  their  force.  This  limitation  may  be 
purely  material,  or  it  may  be  moral,  but  in  either 
case  its  power  is  similar,  if  not  the  same. 

It  is  a  familiar  story,  which  is  told  in  the  books, 
of  Canute,  the  great  Danish  conqueror  of  Great 
Britain,  that  once,  when  his  courtiers  were  vying 
with  each  other  in  magnifying  their  sense  of  his 
omnipotence,  he  simply  ordered  his  chair  to  be 
approached  to  the  advancing  tide  of  the  ocean,  and 
loudly  commanded  the  waves  to  retire.  The  flatterers 
understood  the  hint,  and  were  abashed  by  this 
withering  illustration  of  the  "  higher  law." 

In  the  declaration  of  his  policy  in  these  three 
speeches  Mr.  Seward  was  substantially  supporting 
what  had  been  agreed  upon  as  within  the  line  of 
the  administration  of  General  Taylor.  And,  so  far 
as  it  was  successfully  carried  out  under  his  auspices, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  it  greatly  contributed  to 
remedy  the  evils  anticipated  from  the  slave-holding 
intrigues  of  twenty  years.  He  was  now,  to  all  out 
ward  appearance,  on  the  top  wave  of  fortune,  not 


33 


THE     ADDRESS. 


unlikely  to  infuse  into  the  national  system  a  much 
more  consistent  system  of  principles  than  it  had  been 
its  fortune  to  contain  for  many  years.  A  single 
stroke  from  the  higher  law  brought  all  his  castle- 
building  to  the  ground.  A  few  days  of  illness,  and 
the  President  was  no  more.  To  cite  the  words  of 
an  old  poet : 

"Oh,  frail  estate  of  human  things, 
And  slippery  hopes  below  ! 
Now,  to  our  cost,  your  emptiness  we  know, 
Assurance  here  is  never  to  be  sought ; 
He  toiled,  he  gained,  but  lived  not  to  enjoy." 

Scarcely  could  a  blow  be  more  overwhelming. 
The  loss  of  the  President  was,  in  due  course,  supplied 
by  the  accession  of  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  Fillmore. 
But  with  him  came  in  the  conservative  section  of 
the  party,  which  had  never  reposed  confidence  in 
Mr.  Seward.  From  that  moment  he  was  reduced 
once  more  to  his  old  position  as  depending  exclu 
sively  on  his  own  powers,  and  had,  as  before,  nothing 
to  look  for  in  official  influence  but  opposition.  The 
turn  of  things  was  decisive.  The  leading  advocates 
of  the  policy  of  compromise  freshened  up  to  their 
labors,  and  the  result  was  the  adoption  of  a  series  of 
measures  passing  under  that  term,  which  the  purblind 
authors  fondly  hoped  would  indefinitely  postpone  the 
earthquake,  at  the  very  moment  rumbling  under  their 
feet.  This  memorable  compact,  entered  into  by  three 

36 


THE     ADDRESS. 


of  the  most  eminent  of  our  statesmen  in  the  present 
century — Mr.  Calhoun,  Mr.  Clay,  and  Mr.  Webster- 
will  forever  remain  as  a  proof  of  their  own  infatua 
tion,  and  of  nothing  else.  They  might  just  as  well 
have  attempted  to  stop  the  torrent  of  Niagara  with 
a  drag-net 

One  effect  of  this  proceeding  was  soon  made  per 
ceptible.  It  proved  a  death-blow  to  one  of  the  party 
organizations.  At  the  succeeding  presidential  elec 
tion,  the  conservative  section  of  the  Whigs  having 
failed  in  securing  a  nomination  of  a  candidate  to 
suit  their  views,  rather  than  to  vote  for  General 
Scott,  understood  to  represent  other  sentiments, 
passed  almost  in  mass  over  to  the  Democracy,  and 
voted  for  Franklin  Pierce.  The  result  was,  that  the 
most  insignificant  and  unworthy  candidate  ever  yet 
presented  to  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  in  a  con 
tested  election,  was  chosen  by  a  greater  majority 
than  ever  was  given  to  the  best. 

From  this  moment  the  course  of  things  rapidly 
assumed  a  more  natural  and  consistent  shape.  The 
new  Administration  was  soon  found  to  be  entirely 
under  the  control  of  the  ultra  slave-holders,  and  the 
policy  of  forcing  slavery  into  the  unoccupied  regions 
of  the  West  was  unscrupulously  pushed  with  their 
connivance.  With  these  proceedings  began  the 
great  reaction  in  the  North  and  West  At  last  the 

o 

election  of  1856  displayed  the  fact  that  parties  had 

37 


THE     ADDRESS. 


thrown  off  disguises,  and  were  placing  themselves 
upon  the  real  issues  vital  to  the  country.  Although 
the  result  still  favored  the  slave-holders,  and  James 
Buchanan  was  made  to  succeed  Franklin  Pierce,  the 
seventy  of  the  struggle  indicated  but  too  plainly  the 
beginning  of  the  end.  From  this  moment  the 
Republican  party  became  the  true  antagonist  to 
that  domination. 

Mr.  Seward  now,  for  the  first  time,  enjoyed  the 
great  advantage  of  being  perfectly  free  from  em 
barrassments  springing  out  of  a  union  with  paralyzing 
associates  in  the  same  party.  He  took  the  field  with 
all  his  vigor,  and  the  speeches  which  he  made,  both 
in  the  Senate  and  before  the  people,  remain  to  testify 
to  his  powers,  and  his  success.  The  effects  of  the 
new  union,  reenforced  by  the  extreme  policy  adopted 
by  the  opposite  side,  were  made  perceptible  in  the 
steady  increase  of  the  minorities  in  both  Houses 
of  Congress.  The  opening  of  the  Thirty-sixth 
Congress  showed  that  in  the  popular  branch  the 
Republican  party  counted  a  plurality  of  the  members. 
After  a  long-continued  struggle,  they  succeeded  in 
electing  their  Speaker.  It  looked  as  if  the  hand 
writing  would  soon  be  visible  on  the  wall. 

Then  came  the  moment  when  a  candidate  of  the 
party,  at  last  thoroughly  organized,  was  to  be  nomi 
nated  for  the  presidency  of  1861.  Mr.  Seward,  in 
his  ten  years  of  service  in  the  Senate,  had  completely 

38 


THE     ADDRESS. 


developed  his  capacity  as  a  great  leader  in  difficult 
times.  With  the  singular  mixture  of  boldness  and 
moderation  which  distinguished  him  from  all  others, 
he  had  maintained  his  ground  against  all  the  assaults 
made  upon  him  by  the  ablest  of  the  slave-holding 
statesmen  in  their  stronghold  of  the  Senate.  He 
had  known  how  to  pursue  that  narrow  path  between 
license  in  discussion  on  the  one  hand,  and  personal 
altercation  on  the  other,  which  is  so  seldom  faith 
fully  adhered  to  by  public  men,  especially  when 
cunning  fencers  are  ever  lying  in  wait  to  entrap 
them.  He  had  also  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  ex 
perience  in  his  administration  while  Governor  of 
New  York,  which  had  made  him  familiar  as  well  with 
executive  as  with  legislative  forms  of  business.  The 
older  men  of  great  note  had  vanished,  so  as  to  make 
his  party  prominence  more  marked  than  ever.  As 
a  consequence,  when  the  nominating  convention 
assembled  at  Chicago,  the  eyes  of  all  were  turned 
toward  him  as  the  candidate,  of  all  others,  the  most 
distinguished  by  the  qualities  that  recommend  people 
to  high  places.  A  large  plurality  had  been  chosen 
as  delegates  friendly  to  him,  and  the  general  expec 
tation  was  that  he  would  be  nominated  at  once. 
But  it  was  remembered  that,  in  1844,  Henry  Clay 
was  defeated  because  he  had  a  long  record  of  public 
service,  from  which  many  marked  sayings  and  doings 
might  be  quoted  to  affect  impressible  waverers, 


39 


THE     ADDRESS. 


and  James  K.  Polk  was  elected  because  nobody 
could  quote  any  thing  against  him,  for  the  reason 
that  he  had  never  said  or  done  any  thing  worth 
quoting  at  all.  Furthermore,  the  ghosts  of  the 
higher  law  and  of  the  irrepressible  conflict  flitted 
about  to  alarm  excited  imaginations.  Last  but  not 
least  came  in  the  element  of  bargain  and  manage 
ment,  manipulated  by  adepts  at  intrigue,  which  is 
almost  inseparable  from  similar  assemblies.  The 
effect  of  all  these  influences  united  was  to  turn  the 
tide  at  last,  and  Mr.  Seward,  the  veteran  champion  of 
the  reforming  policy,  was  set  aside  in  favor  of  a 
gentleman  as  little  known  by  any  thing  he  had  ever 
done  as  the  most  sanguine  friend  of  such  a  selection 
could  desire.  The  fact  is  beyond  contradiction  that 
no  person,  ever  before  nominated  with  any  reason 
able  probability  of  success,  had  had  so  little  of  public 
service  to  show  for  his  reward. 

Placing  myself  in  the  attitude  of  Mr.  Seward,  at 
the  moment  when  the  news  of  so  strange  a  decision 
would  reach  his  ears,  I  think  I  might,  like  Amiens, 
in  the  play,  have  moralized  for  an  instant  on  man's 
ingratitude,  and  been  warned  by  the  example  of 
Aristides,  or  even  the  worse  fate  of  Barneveld  and 
the  two  De  Witts,  not  to  press  further  in  a  career 
in  which  the  strong  were  to  be  ostracized,  because 
of  their  strength,  and  the  weak  were  to  be  pushed 
into  places  of  danger,  on  the  score  of  their  feeble- 


40 


THE     ADDRESS. 


ness.  To  he  elected  for  the  reason  that  a  person  has 
never  done  any  thing  to  display  his  powers  of  use 
fulness  to  bring  about  positive  results,  would  seem 
to  be  like  making  elevation  to  power  the  prize  of 
the  greatest  insignificance.  Under  such  circum 
stances,  a  successful  man  might  fairly  infer  that  the 
selection  of  himself  implied,  on  its  face,  rather  an 
insult  than  a  compliment 

But  Mr.  Seward,  when  he  heard  of  it,  did  not 
reason  on  this  low  level.  That  he  deeply  felt  such  a 
refusal  to  recognize  the  value  of  his  long  and  earnest 
labors  in  a  perilous  cause,  I  have  every  reason  to 
believe.  For  it  was  precisely  at  this  moment  that 
the  intimacy  with  which  he  sometime  honored  me 
dates  its  commencement.  I  had  been  long  watching 
his  course  with  the  deepest  interest,  sometimes  fearful 
lest  he  might  bend  toward  the  delusive  track  of 
expediency,  at  others  impatient  at  his  calmness  in 
moments  fit  to  call  out  the  fire  of  Demosthenes,  yet, 
on  the  whole,  if  I  may  be  so  bold  as  to  confess  it, 
fastened  to  his  footsteps  by  the  conviction  that  he 
alone,  of  all  others,  had  most  marked  himself  as  a 
disciple  of  the  school  in  which  I  had  been  bred 
myself.  In  this  state  of  mind  I  had  indulged  a 
strong  hope,  not  only  that  his  splendid  services 
would  meet  with  a  just  acknowledgment,  but  that 
his  future  guidance  might  be  depended  on  in  the 
event  of  critical  conjunctures. 

[6]  41 


THE    ADDRESS. 


I  was  at  the  time  in  the  public  service  at  Wash 
ington,  and  much  cast  down  on  hearing  of  the  result. 
Mr.  Seward  had  been  at  Auburn,  and  was  just 
returned.  I  had  not  seen  the  answer  to  his  friends, 
written  from  that  place  on  the  3istof  May,  signifying 
his  ready  acquiescence  in  the  result,  and,  if  I  had,  I 
might  not  have  put  entire  trust  in  it  as  a  full  expres 
sion  of  his  inmost  heart.  The  day  after  his  return 
he  called  in  his  carriage  at  my  door  and  asked  me 
to  get  in  and  drive  with  him  to  the  Capitol.  He 
had  never  done  this  before,  but  I  promptly  accepted 
his  offer.  Full  of  disgust  at  the  management  con 
trived  to  defeat  his  nomination,  I  did  not  hesitate  in 
expressing  it  to  him  in  the  most  forcible  terms.  But 
I  found  no  corresponding  response.  I  saw  that  he 
had  been  grievously  disappointed,  and  that  he  felt 
the  blow  so  effectually  aimed  at  him.  But  he  gave 
no  sound  of  discontent.  On  the  contrary,  he  calmly 
deprecated  all  similar  complaints,  and  at  once  turned 
my  attention  to  the  duty  of  heartily  accepting  the 
situation  for  the  sake  of  the  cause.  The  declaration 
of  principles  put  forth  by  the  convention  was  per 
fectly  satisfactory,  and  it  now  became  his  friends  to 
look  only  to  the  work  of  securing  their  establish 
ment. 

Such  was  the  burden  of  the  conversation  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  way.  The  tone  was  just  the  same 
as  that  in  the  public  letter,  while  the  language  was 


42 


THE     ADDRESS. 


more  simple  and  unreserved.  To  me  it  was  a  revela 
tion  of  the  moral  superiority  of  the  man.  I  had 
heard  so  much  in  my  time  of  the  management 
attributed  to  New  York  politicians,  from  the  days 
of  Aaron  Burr  to  those  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  that 
I  should  not  have  been  surprised  to  find  him  indulg 
ing  in  some  details  of  the  causes  of  his  failure.  But 
there  was  not  a  word.  An  experience  like  this  drove 
me  at  once  to  the  conclusion  that,  if  such  deportment 
as  this  passed  under  the  denomination  of  manage 
ment  in  New  York,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  its 
definition  of  magnanimity. 

Neither  were  these  merely  brave  words  followed 
up  by  inaction  or  indifference.  Mr.  Seward  entered 
into  the  canvass  in  behalf  of  his  rival  with  the 
utmost  energy.  I  was  myself  a  witness  and  com 
panion  through  a  large  part  of  his  journey  in  the 
West.  His  speeches,  made  at  almost  every  central 
point,  indicate,  not  simply  the  fertility  of  his  powers, 
but  the  fidelity  with  which  he  applied  them  to  the 
purpose  in  hand.  They  still  remain  with  us  to  testify 
for  him  themselves. 

The  election  followed,  making  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  this  republic.  The  slave-holding  power, 
which  had  governed  for  more  than  thirty  years,  had 
at  last  ceased  to  control.  No  sooner  was  the  result 
known,  than  South  Carolina  lifted  the  banner  of 
secession,  not  having  chosen  to  wait  for  any  assign- 


43 


THE     ADDRESS. 


/ 


able  cause  of  grievance.  Congress  assembled  at 
Washington  to  hold  the  last  session  under  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Buchanan.  Tied  hand  and 
foot  by  the  conditions  under  which  he  had  received 
his  nomination  four  years  before,  his  course  had  been 
faltering  and  uncertain,  meriting  praise  neither  for 
prudence  nor  patriotism.  A  strong  appeal,  immedi 
ately  put  forth,  to  the  sound  sense  and  sterling 
principles  of  the  honest,  independent  citizens  of  the 
country,  without  regard  to  party,  backed  up  by  an 
immediate  preparation,  quietly  made,  of  the  means 
at  hand  to  maintain  public  order,  in  any  contin 
gency,  might  even  then  have  put  in  check  the  ten 
dency  of  multitudes  to  plunge  into  evil  counsels. 
It  does  not  appear  that  any  thing  of  the  kind  was 
ever  thought  of.  Treason  had  crept  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  cabinet,  and  a  policy  had  been  secretly 
at  work  to  paralyze  rather  than  to  fortify  the  re 
sources  of  the  Executive.  Every  thing  was  drifting 
at  the  mercy  of  the  winds  and  waves.  One  single 
hour  of  the  will  displayed  by  General  Jackson,  at 
the  time  when  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  most  powerful 
leader  secession  ever  had,  was  abetting  active  meas 
ures,  would  have  stifled  the  fire  in  its  cradle.  But 
it  was  not  to  be.  The  evil  came  from  the  misfor 
tune  of  a  weak  President  in  a  perilous  emergency. 
Instead  of  taking  this  course,  a  message  was  sent 
to  Congress  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  lamenting  the  fact  of 

44 


THE     ADDRESS. 


what  he  chose  to  call  a  secession  of  several  States, 
but  coupling  with  it  a  denial  of  any  power  to  coerce 
them.  This  was  in  its  essence  an  abandonment  of 
all  right  to  control  popular  resistance  in  that  form. 
In  the  condition  things  were  at  that  moment,  with  a 
cabinet  divided,  and  both  branches  of  the  Legislature 
utterly  without  spirit  to  concert  measures,  the  effect 
was  equivalent  to  disintegration.  Disaffection  be 
came  rife  everywhere  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line.  And,  in  the  city  of  Washington  itself,  it  became 

• 

difficult  to  find,  among  the  residents,  persons  wholly 
free  from  it.  Rumors  of  some  impending  coup  d'etat 
vaguely  floated  in  every  breeze.  From  communica 
tions  made  to  me  by  persons  likely  to  know,  I  have 
every  reason  to  think  such  projects  were  entertained 
by  the  class  of  more  desperate  adventurers.  A  plan 
of  attacking  the  Constitution  in  its  weakest  part, 
the  form  of  declaring  the  election  of  President  in 
the  month  of  February,  had  been  gravely  con 
sidered.  Happily  for  the  public  peace,  there  was  no 
leader  at  hand  equal  to  the  consummation  of  any 
such  enterprise,  so  that  more  moderate  counsels, 
based  upon  the  not  unreasonable  confidence  that 
victory  was  more  sure  by  letting  matters  take  their 
course,  prevailed. 

If  such  was  the  condition  of  the  disaffected  party, 
it  was  scarcely  better  with  the  loyal  side.  The 
President-elect  was  still  at  home  in  Illinois,  giving 


43 


THE    ADDRESS. 


no  signs  of  life,  and  there  was  no  one  of  the  faithful 
men  vested  with  authority  to  speak  or  act  in  his 
behalf.  That  something  ought  to  be  done  to  keep 
the  control  of  the  capital,  and  bridge  over  the  inter 
val  before  the  4th  of  March  in  peace  and  quiet,  was 
manifest.  It  was  no  time  to  go  into  consultations 
that  would  inevitably  lead  to  delays,  if  not  to  dissen 
sions.  Neither  was  it  wise  to  spread  uneasiness  and 
alarm.  In  this  emergency,  I  have  it  in  my  power  to 
speak  only  of  what  I  know  Mr.  Seward  effected  on 

+ 

his  sole  responsibility.  Of  his  calmness  in  the 
midst  of  difficulty,  of  his  fertility  in  resource,  of  his 
courage  in  at  once  breaking  up  the  remnants  of 
party  ties,  and  combining,  as  firmly  as  he  could, 
trusty  men,  whether  in  the  cabinet,  in  the  army,  in 
the  municipal  boards,  or  elsewhere,  to  secure  the 
object  of  keeping  every  thing  steady,  I  had  abun 
dant  evidence.  The  hearty  cooperation  of  Gen 
eral  Scott,  then  Commander-in-Chief,  although 
surrounded  by  less  than  even  lukewarm  assistants, 
proved  of  the  highest  value.  The  day  is,  perhaps, 
not  yet  come,  if  it  ever  does,  when  all  the  details  of 
these  operations  will  be  disclosed.  But,  if  it  should, 
it  will  only  add  one  more  to  the  many  causes  of 
gratitude  due  by  the  country  to  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Seward. 

But,  out  of  all  the  sources  of  anxiety  and  distrust 
heaped  up  in  this  most  fearful  interval,  that  which 


THE    ADDRESS. 


appeared  to  many  the  most  appalling  was  the  fact 
that  we  were  about  to  have,  for  our  guide  through 
this  perilous  strife,  a  person  selected  partly  on 
account  of  the  absence  of  positive  qualities,  so  far 
as  was  known  to  the  public,  and  absolutely  without 
the  advantage  of  any  experience  in  national  affairs, 
beyond  the  little  that  can  be  learned  by  an  occupa 
tion  for  two  years  of  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives.  The  selection  of  Mr.  Polk  and  Mr. 
Pierce,  on  the  same  principle,  though  in  a  less 
degree,  for  both  of  them  had  seen  far  more  of  serv 
ice,  had  been,  in  a  measure,  justified  to  the  country 
by  their  prompt  recourse  to  the  best-trained  men  of 
the  party,  as  supports  and  guides,  in  the  cabinet. 
But  this  was  in  times  of  profound  internal  quiet 
when  the  State  machinery  moved  almost  of  itself; 
while,  in  this  emergency,  every  wheel  appeared 
clogged,  and  even  the  tenacity  of  the  whole  fabric 
was  seriously  tested.  Neither  was  it  any  source  of 
confidence  to  find  that  day  passed  after  day,  and  not 
a  syllable  of  intelligence  came.  It  was  clear,  at  least 
to  me,  that  our  chances  of  safety  would  rest  upon 
an  executive  council  composed  of  the  wisest  and 
most  experienced  men  that  could  be  found.  So  it 
seemed  absolutely  indispensable,  on  every  account, 
that  not  only  Mr.  Seward  should  have  been  early 
secured  in  a  prominent  post,  but  that  his  advice,  at 
least,  should  have  been  asked  in  regard  to  the  com- 


4.7 


THE     ADDRESS. 


pletion  of  the  organization.  The  value  of  such 
counsel  in  securing  harmony  in  policy  is  too  well 
understood  to  need  explanation.  But  Mr.  Lincoln 
as  yet  knew  little  of  all  this.  His  mind  had  not 
even  opened  to  the  nature  of  the  crisis.  From  his 
secluded  abode  in  the  heart  of  Illinois,  he  was  only 
taking  the  measure  of  geographical  relations  and 
party  services,  and  beginning  his  operations  where 
others  commonly  leave  off,  at  the  smaller  end. 
Hence  it  was  not  until  some  time  in  the  session  that 
he  disclosed  his  intention  to  place  Mr.  Seward  in 
the  most  prominent  place.  So  doubtful  had  some  of 
Mr.  Se ward's  friends  been  made,  by  this  proceeding, 
of  the  spirit  of  the  President,  that  they  were  dis 
posed  to  advise  him  not  to  assume  any  responsibility 
under  him.  At  least,  this  was  the  substance  of  what 
I  understood  him  to  say,  when  he  was  pleased  to  ask 
of  me  my  sentiments.  My  answer  was  very  short. 
No  matter  what  the  manner  of  the  offer,  his  duty 
was  to  take  the  post.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  quite 
clear  to  me  that  he  stood  in  no  need  of  my  counsel. 
I  should  have  mistaken  his  character  if  he  had 
hesitated. 

Let  me  not  be  understood  as  desiring  to  say  a 
word  in  a  spirit  of  derogation  from  the  memory  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.  He  afterward  proved  himself 
before  the  world  a  pure,  brave,  capable  and  honest 
man,  faithful  to  his  arduous  task,  and  laying  down 


48 


THE    /IDDRESS. 


his  life  at  the  last  as  a  penalty  for  his  country's  safety. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  the  duty  of  history,  in  dealing 
with  all  human  action,  to  do  strict  justice  in  discrim 
inating  between  persons,  and  by  no  means  to  award  to 
one  honors  that  clearly  belong  to  another.  I  must, 
then,  afnrm  without  hesitation  that,  in  the  history  of 
our  Government  down  to  this  hour,  no  experiment  so 
rash  has  ever  been  made  as  that  of  elevating  to  the 
head  of  affairs  a  man  with  so  little  previous  prepara 
tion  for  his  task  as  Mr.  Lincoln.  If  this  be  true  of 
him  in  regard  to  the  course  of  domestic  administra 
tion,  with  which  he  might  be  supposed  partially 
familiar,  it  is  eminently  so  in  respect  to  the  foreign 
relations,  of  which  he  knew  absolutely  nothing. 
Furthermore,  he  was  quite  deficient  in  his  acquaint 
ance  with  the  character  and  qualities  of  public  men, 
or  their  aptitude  for  the  positions  to  which  he 
assigned  them.  Indeed,  he  seldom  selected  them 
solely  by  that  standard.  Admitting  this  to  be  an 
accurate  statement,  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  Mr. 
Seward  on  his  assuming  the  duties  of  the  foreign 
department  may  be  readily  imagined.  The  imme 
diate  reorganization  of  the  service  abroad  was  im 
peratively  demanded  at  all  points.  The  chief  posts 
had  been  filled  before  that  time  with  persons  either 
lukewarm  in  the  struggle  or  else  positively  sympa 
thizing  with  the  disaffected.  One  consequence  had 
been  the  formation  of  impressions  upon  the  repre- 

[7]  49 


THE     ADDRESS. 


sentatives  of  foreign  governments  calculated  in  some 
measure  to  mislead  their  policy  Some  were  not 
unwilling  to  assume  the  question  as  already  prede 
termined,  and  to  prepare  to  accommodate  themselves 
to  the  result  of  a  divided  sovereignty  Others  were 
inclined  only  to  watch  the  phenomena  attending  the 
dissolution,  in  order  to  adapt  their  policy  to  the 
variations,  and  take  advantage  of  opportunities. 
Besides  which,  the  failure  of  the  greatest  ex 
periment  of  self-government  ever  made  by  a  people 
was  not  without  its  effect  upon  every  calcula 
tion  of  possibilities  nearer  home.  It  may,  then, 
be  easily  conceived  what  an  effect  could  be  pro 
duced  in  all  quarters  by  the  equivocal,  half 
hearted  tone  prevailing  among  the  American 
agents  themselves. 

Yet,  assuming  it  to  be  indispensable  that  the 
foreign  service  should  be  reorganized,  a  very  grave 
difficulty  forthwith  presented  itself.  The  Republican 
party  had  been  so  generally  in  opposition  that  but 
few  of  its  prominent  members  had  had  any  advan 
tages  of  experience  in  office.  And,  in  the  foreign 
service  especially,  experience  is  almost  indispensable 
to  usefulness.  Mr.  Seward  himself  came  into  the 
State  Department  with  no  acquaintance  with  the 
forms  of  business  other  than  that  obtained  inciden 
tally  through  his  service  in  the  Senate.  He  had  not 
had  the  benefit  of  official  presence  abroad,  an  advan- 


3O 


THE     ADDRESS. 


tage  by  no  means  trifling  in  conducting  the  foreign 
affairs.  A  still  greater  difficulty  was  that,  within  the 
range  of  selection  to  fill  the  respective  posts  abroad, 
hardly  any  person  could  be  found  better  provided  in 
this  respect  than  himself.  Moreover,  the  President, 
in  distributing  his  places,  did  so  with  small  refer 
ence  to  the  qualifications  in  this  particular  line.  It 
was  either  partisan  service,  or  geographical  position, 
or  the  length  of  the  lists  of  names  to  commendatory 
papers,  or  the  size  of  the  salary,  or  the  unblushing 
pertinacity  of  personal  solicitation,  that  wrung  from 
him  many  of  his  appointments.  Yet,  considering 
the  nature  of  all  these  obstacles,  it  must  be  ad 
mitted  that  most  of  the  neophytes  acquitted  them 
selves  of  their  duty  with  far  more  of  credit  than 
could  have  been  fairly  expected  from  the  commence 
ment.  I  attribute  this  good  fortune  mainly  to  the 
sense  of  heavy  responsibility  stimulated  by  the  peril 
of  the  country,  and  the  admirable  lead  given  by  their 
chief.  The  marvelous  fertility  of  his  pen  spread 
itself  at  once  over  every  important  point  on  the 
globe,  and  the  lofty  firmness  of  his  tone  infused  a 
spirit  of  unity  of  action  such  as  had  never  been 
witnessed  before.  The  effect  of  this  was  that,  from 
a  state  of  utter  demoralization  at  the  outset,  the 
foreign  service  rapidly  became  the  most  energetic 
and  united  organization  thus  far  made  abroad.  The 
evidence  of  this  will  remain  patent  in  the  archives 


81 


:DDRESS. 


of  the  nation  so  long  as  they  shall  be  suffered  to 
endure. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  any  head  of  an 
executive  department  ever  approached  Mr.  Sevvard 
in  the  extent  and  minuteness  of  the  instructions  he 
was  constantly  issuing  during  the  critical  period  of 
the  war.  While  necessarily  subject  to  imperfection 
consequent  upon  the  rapidity  with  which  he  wrote, 
his  papers  will  occasion  rather  surprise  at  their  gen 
eral  excellence  than  at  any  casual  defects  they  may 
contain.  Exception  has  been  taken  to  his  manner 
on  some  occasions  as  not  in  the  best  taste.  And 
wiseacres  have  commented  on  his  failure  of  sagacity 
in  making  over-confident  predictions.  But  what 
was  he  to  do  in  the  face  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  ?  Was  it  to  doubt,  and  qualify,  and  calculate 
probabilities  ?  Would  such  a  course  have  helped  to 
win  their  confidence  ?  I  trow  not.  In  the  very  darkest 
hour  his  clarion-voice  rang  out  more  sharp  and  clear 
in  full  faith  of  the  triumph  of  the  great  cause  than 
even  in  the  moment  of  its  complete  success.  And 
the  consequence  is,  that  the  fame  of  William  H. 
Seward  as  a  sagacious  statesman  is  more  widely 
spread  over  every  part  of  the  globe  than  that  of  any 
other  in  our  history. 

But,  great  as  were  the  services  of  Mr.  Seward  in 
his  own  peculiar  department,  it  would  be  a  mistake 
to  infer  that  they  were  restricted  within  that  limit. 


52 


THE     ADDRESS. 


I  now  come  to  a  point  where  what  appears  to  me  to 
have  been  one  of  his  greatest  qualities,  is  to  be  set 
forth.  It  is  impossible  for  two  persons,  in  the  rela 
tions  of  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State, 
to  go  on  long  together  without  taking  a  measure 
of  their  respective  powers.  Mr.  Lincoln  could  not 
fail  soon  to  perceive  the  fact  that,  whatever  estimate 
he  might  put  on  his  own  acute  judgment,  he  had  to 
deal  with  a  superior  in  native  intellectual  power,  in 
extent  of  acquirement,  in  breadth  of  philosophical 
experience,  and  in  the  force  of  moral  discipline.  On 
the  other  hand,  Mr.  Seward  could  not  have  been 
long  blind  to  the  deficiencies  of  the  chief  in  these 
respects,  however  highly  he  might  value  his  integrity 
of  purpose,  his  shrewd  capacity,  his  vigorous  ratioci 
nation,  and  his  generous  and  amiable  disposition. 
The  effect  of  these  reciprocal  discoveries  could 
scarcely  have  been  other  than  to  undermine  confi 
dence,  and  to  inspire  suspicion  in  the  weaker  party 
of  danger  from  the  influence  of  the  stronger.  He 
might  naturally  become  jealous  of  the  imputation  of 
being  led,  and  fearful  lest  the  labors  of  his  secretary 
might  be  directed  to  his  own  aggrandizement  at  his 
expense.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Seward  might 
not  find  it  difficult  to  penetrate  the  character  of  these 
speculations,  and  foresee  their  probable  effect  in 
abridging  his  powers  of  usefulness,  and,  perhaps, 
unsettling  the  very  foundation  of  his  position,  should 


THE     ADDRESS. 


ambitious  third  parties  scent  the  opportunities  to 
edge  him  out. 

Whether  all  that  I  have  here  described  did  or  did 
not  happen,  I  shall  not  be  so  bold  as  to  say.  But 
one  thing  I  know,  and  this  was,  that,  in  order  to  cut 
up  by  the  roots  the  possibility  of  misunderstanding 
from  such  causes,  Mr.  Seward  deliberately  came  to 
the  conclusion  to  stifle  every  sensation  left  in  him 
of  aspiration  in  the  future,  by  establishing  a  distinct 
understanding  with  the  President  on  that  subject. 
The  effect  of  this  act  of  self-abnegation  was  soon 
apparent  in  the  steady  subsequent  union  of  the 
parties.  Thus  it  happened  that  Mr.  Seward  volun 
tarily  dismissed  forever  the  noblest  dreams  of  an 
ambition  he  had  the  clearest  right  to  indulge,  in 
exchange  for  a  more  solid  power  to  direct  affairs  for 
the  benefit  of  the  nation,  through  the  name  of 
another,  who  should  yet  appear  in  all  later  time  to 
reap  the  honors  due  chiefly  to  his  labors. 

I  am  not  going  to  touch  upon  the  incidents  of  the 
great  war.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  Gettysburg  and 
Vicksburg  turned  the  tide ;  and  the  Administration 
had  nothing  more  to  fear  from  popular  distrust.  The 
election  confirmed  it  in  power,  and  little  was  left  to 
do  but  to  heal  the  wounds  inflicted,  and  restore  the 
blessed  days  of  peace  and  prosperity.  Scarcely  had 
the  necessary  measures  been  matured,  and  Fortune 
begun  once  more  to  smile,  when  the  hand  of  an 


34 


THE     ADDRESS. 


assassin,  unerring  in  its  instinctive  sagacity,  vented 
all  the  rage  of  the  baffled  enemy  upon  the  heads  of 
the  two  individuals,  of  all  others,  who  most  distinctly 
symbolized  the  emancipation  of  the  slave  and  the 
doom  of  the  master's  pride.  Then  followed  a  suc 
cessor  to  the  chair,  sadly  wanting  in  the  happiest 
qualities  of  his  predecessor,  but  readily  moulded  to 
the  very  same  policy  which  had  been  inaugurated  by 
him.  In  his  earnestness  to  save  it,  Mr.  Seward  sub 
ordinated  himself  just  as  before.  But  the  change  of 
person  proved  little  less  disastrous  to  his  hopes  than 
it  had  been  sixteen  years  before  in  the  case  of  General 
Taylor.  Nevertheless,  he  steadily  and  bravely  ad 
hered  to  the  chief,  for  the  sake  of  the  policy,  to  the 
last,  and  quietly  bore  the  odium  of  a  failure  he  had 
no  power  to  avert.  It  would  have  been  worth  all 
it  cost,  could  he  have  succeeded.  But,  as  it  Avas,  rarely 
has  it  been  the  fate  of  the  same  statesman  to  meet 
with  two  successive  instances  of  such  human  vicis 
situdes. 

In  the  spring  of  1869  he  bade  a  last  farewell  to 
public  life.  The  veteran  who  had  fought  for  years 
for  the  establishment  of  the  great  principles  of  liberty, 
clear  of  all  hampering  compromises,  who  bore  on  his 
front  the  gash  received  because  he  had  worked  too 
well  —  a  scar  which  would  have  made  a  life-long 
political  fortune  for  any  purely  military  man  —  was 
permitted  to  repair  in  silence  to  his  home,  now 


53 


J 


HE     ADDRESS. 


lonely  from  the  loss  of  those  who  had  made  it  his 
delight,  with  fewer  marks  of  recognition  of  his  bril 
liant  career  than  he  would  have  had  if  he  had  been 
the  most  insignificant  of  our  Presidents.  Such  is  one 
more  example  of  the  fate  that  awaits  "those  who 
hang  on  princes'  favors,"  whether  the  sovereign  be 
one  or  be  many.  And  now  his  native  State,  having 
bestowed  on  him  all  the  honors  within  her  gift  during 
his  life,  with  the  natural  pride  in  the  career  of  so 
great  a  son,  has  sought  outside  of  her  borders  for 
one  of  the  humblest  of  his  disciples  to  cull  a  few 
fleeting  flowers  and  spread  them  on  his  grave.  While 
I  do  honor  to  this  manifestation  on  her  part,  I  trust 
I  may  be  pardoned  for  remembering  that  he  did  not 
save  the  State  alone  - 

HE    SAVED    THE    NATION. 

Let  me  turn  from  this  subject  to  the  more  agree 
able  task  of  pointing  out  to  you  some  peculiar 
qualities  of  Mr.  Seward,  which  merit  close  attention 
in  any  view  taken  of  his  character.  Of  these  the 
most  marked  was  his  indomitable  courage.  By 
superficial  observers  among  his  contemporaries,  the 
breadth  of  his  popular  theory  was  set  down  as  little 
more  than  the  agitation  not  unusual  with  most  of 
our  ordinary  demagogues.  Hence  the  prejudices 
more  or  less  imbibed  by  many  of  his  own  party,  and 
others  who  knew  nothing  of  him  personally.  Yet 

S3 


THE     ADDRESS. 


the  fact  is  indisputable  that  very  few  public  men  in 
our  history  can  be  cited  who  have  shown  so  much 
indifference,  in  running  directly  counter  to  the  popu 
lar  passions  when  highly  excited,  as  he  did.  And  in 
such  action  it  is  clear  that  he  could  have  been 
prompted  by  no  motive  other  than  the  highest  of 
personal  duty. 

Hitherto,  I  have  treated  only  of  his  public  life. 
I  now  propose  to  touch  on  his  professional  career, 
to  which,  though  not  attractive  to  him,  he  steadily 
adhered  so  long  as  it  was  practicable.  Had  he 
devoted  himself  to  it  exclusively,  I  have  not  a 
shadow  of  doubt  he  would  have  attained  a  position 
of  the  very  first  rank.  I  dwell  on  it  now  only  in 
connection  with  a  single  case  which  will  serve  to 
illustrate  as  well  his  courage  as  his  power.  This  is 
the  case  of  the  miserable  negro  William  Freeman. 
The  fact  of  his  murdering  at  night  all  the  members 
of  a  highly-respectable  family  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Auburn,  without  any  apparent  motive,  is  too  well 
remembered  here  to  this  day  to  need  repeating  the 
horrible  details.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the 
passions  of  the  people  in  all  the  country  round  about 
were  fearfully  but  not  unnaturally  aroused.  They 
demanded  immediate  justice  with  so  much  vehemence 
that,  from  fear  of  violence,  extraordinary  measures 
were  resorted  to  by  the  State  authorities  to  hasten 
the  trial,  in  the  very  vicinity  of  the  outrage.  In  the 

[8]  37 


J 


HE     ADDRESS. 


State  prison  at  Auburn  it  had  so  happened  that, 
shortly  before,  a  white  convict  had  killed  one  of 
his  associates.  He  had  called  upon  Mr.  Sevvard 
to  defend  him  at  his  trial,  and  he  had  consented  to 
appear.  This  act  of  his  had  not  been  viewed  favor 
ably  in  the  neighborhood.  But,  when  the  crime  of 
the  negro  was  soon  afterward  divulged,  the  popular 
indignation  rose  to  such  a  height  that  it  was  with 
much  difficulty  he  could  be  conveyed  in  safety  to  the 
jail.  So  great  was  the  rage,  that  nothing  but  the 
public  declaration  of  one  of  the  county  judges, 
made  on  the  spot,  not  only  that  he  must  certainly 
be  executed,  but  also  that  "  no  Governor  Seward 
would  interpose  to  defend  him,"  availed  to  shelter 
him  from  summary  vengeance.  Immediately  after 
ward,  the  law  partners  of  Mr.  Seward  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  confirming  that  promise  of  the 
judge,  without  consulting  him. 

At  that  moment  Mr.  Seward  had  happily  been 
absent  from  home.  But,  when  he  was  expected  to 
return,  there  was  great  anxiety  among  his  friends 
and  relatives,  lest  he  should  meet  with  insult,  if  not 
positive  outrage,  in  his  transit  from  the  railway-station 
to  his  house.  The  excitement  had  scarcely  abated 
when  the  two  cases  came  up  for  trial.  In  the  first, 
Mr.  Seward  endeavored  to  procure  a  postponement, 
but  it  was  in  vain.  The  popular  feeling  would  not 
submit  to  it.  With  the  utmost  difficulty  were  per- 


58 


J 


HE     ADDRESS. 


sons  found  fitted  to  make  a  jury.  The  argument 
rested  on  the  insanity  of  the  prisoner.  But  it  carried 
no  weight.  Within  a  month  the  convict  was  tried, 
condemned,  and  executed.  In  this  instance  Mr. 
Seward  had  performed  his  part  in  the  regular  course 
of  professional  service.  But,  when  the  offense  of 
the  wretched  creature  Freeman  was  about  to  be 
submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  court,  it 
immediately  appeared  that  not  a  soul  of  the  large 
crowd  present  entertained  the  smallest  sympathy  for 
him.  He  was  told  that  he  might  have  the  assistance 
of  counsel  if  he  would  ask  for  it.  His  answer  indi 
cated  utter  ignorance  of  the  meaning  of  the  words. 
Under  such  circumstances  what  was  to  be  done  to 
comply  with  forms  of  law  ?  There  was  a  solemn 
pause  in  that  thronged  assembly.  At  last  the  silence 
was  broken  by  the  judge,  who,  addressing  the  pro 
fessional  men  before  him,  asked,  in  a  hopeless  tone, 

"  WILL  any  one  DEFEND  THIS  MAN  ?" 

And  here  again  was  a  breathless  pause,  broken  at 
last  by  a  quiet  movement  of  a  solitary  man,  as  he 
rose  in  his  place,  who,  in  the  face  of  the  eager  crowd, 
briefly  replied,  "  May  it  please  the  court,  /  appear  as 
counsel  for  the  prisoner." 

This  volunteer  was  WILLIAM  HENRY  SEWARD, 
the  very  man  whom  the  excited  multitude  had 
already  warned  not  to  interpose  to  defend  him. 

59 


I  HE       A.DDRESS. 


I  know  not  what  others  may  think  of  this  simple 
picture,  but,  in  my  humble  view,  it  presents  a  scene 
of  moral  sublimity  rarely  to  be  met  with  in  the 
paths  of  our  ordinary  life.  At  this  juncture,  had 
WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD  been  found  anywhere  at  night 
alone,  and  unprotected  by  the  powerful  law-abiding 
habits  of  the  region  about  him,  his  body  would 
probably  have  been  discovered  in  the  morning  hang 
ing  from  the  next  tree.  What  motive  could  have 
impelled  him  to  encounter  so  much  indignation  for 
this  act  ?  He  had  been  not  at  all  insensible  to  the 
pleasure  of  popularity  in  public  life.  Here  he  was 
not  only  injuring  his  own  interests,  but  that  of  the 
party  with  which  he  was  associated.  In  vain  did  it 
labor  to  disavow  all  connection  or  sympathy  with 
him.  The  press  on  all  sides  thundered  its  denunci 
ations  over  his  head.  The  elections  all  went  one 
way.  The  Democratic  party  came  sweepingly  into 
the  ascendant.  And  all  about  the  life  of  a  negro 
idiot  ? 

I  think  I  do  not  exaggerate  in  expressing  an 
humble  opinion,  that  the  argument  in  the  defense  is 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  ever  made  in  the  language. 
I  have  no  time  to  dwell  on  it,  further  than  to  quote 
a  few  passages  assigning  his  reason  for  his  conduct : 
"  For  William  Freeman  as  a  murderer,  I  have  no 
commission  to  speak.  If  he  had  silver  and  gold 
accumulated,  with  the  frugality  of  a  Croesus,  and 


60 


THE    ADDRESS. 


should  pour  it  all  at  my  feet,  I  would  not  stand  an 
hour  between  him  and  his  avenger.  But  for  the 
innocent,  it  is  my  right  —  it  is  my  duty  —  to  speak. 
If  this  sea  of  blood  was  innocently  shed,  then  it  is 
my  duty  to  stand  beside  him,  until  his  steps  lose 
their  hold  upon  the  scaffold.  'Thou  shalt  not  kill' 
is  a  commandment,  addressed  not  to  him  alone, 
but  to  me,  to  you,  to  the  court,  and  to  the  whole 
community.  There  are  no  exceptions  from  that 
commandment,  at  least,  in  civil  life,  save  those  of 
self-defense,  and  capital  punishment  for  crime  in  the 
due  and  just  administration  of  the  law.  There  is 
not  only  a  question,  then,  whether  the  prisoner  has 
shed  the  blood  of  his  fellow-man,  but  the  question 
whether  we  shall  unlawfully  shed  his  blood.  I  should 
be  guilty  of  murder  if,  in  my  present  relation,  I  saw 
the  executioner  waiting  for  an  insane  man,  and  failed 
to  say  or  failed  to  do,  in  his  behalf,  all  that  my  abil 
ity  allowed." 

And  again  he  says:  "  I  am  arraigned  before  you 
for  undue  manifestations  of  zeal  and  excitement.  My 
answer  to  all  such  charges  shall  be  brief.  When  this 
cause  shall  have  been  committed  to  you,  I  shall  be 
happy  indeed  if  it  shall  appear  that  my  only  error 
has  been  that  I  felt  too  much,  thought  too  intensely, 
or  acted  too  faithfully." 

But  the  significant  and  most  eloquent  passage  is 
this  :  "  I  plead  not  for  a  murderer.  I  have  no  induce- 

61 


THE     ADDRESS. 


ment,  no  motive  to  do  so.  I  have  addressed  my 
fellow-citizens  in  many  various  relations,  when  re 
wards  of  wealth  and  fame  awaited  me.  I  have  been 
cheered  on  other  occasions  by  manifestations  of 
popular  approbation  and  sympathy ;  and,  where  there 
was  no  such  encouragement,  I  had  at  least  the  grati 
tude  of  him  whose  cause  I  defended.  But  I  speak 
now  in  the  hearing  of  a  people  who  have  prejudged 
the  prisoner,  and  condemned  me  for  pleading  in  his 
behalf.  He  is  a  convict,  a  pauper,  a  negro,  without 
intellect,  sense,  or  emotion.  My  child,  with  an  affec 
tionate  smile,  disarms  my  care-worn  face  of  its  frown 
whenever  I  cross  my  threshold.  The  beggar  in  the 
street  obliges  me  to  give,  because  he  says  '  God  bless 
you '  as  I  pass.  My  dog  caresses  me  with  fondness 
if  I  will  but  smile  on  him.  My  horse  recognizes  me 
when  I  fill  his  manger.  But  what  reward,  what 
gratitude,  what  sympathy  and  affection  can  I  expect 
here  ?  There  the  prisoner  sits  ;  look  at  him.  Look 
at  the  assemblage  around  you.  Listen  to  their  ill- 
suppressed  censures  and  their  excited  fears,  and  tell 
me  where  among  my  neighbors  or  my  fellow-men, 
where  even  in  his  heart  can  I  expect  to  find  the 
sentiment,  the  thought,  not  to  say  of  reward  or 
acknowledgment,  but  even  of  recognition.  I  sat 
here  two  weeks  during  the  preliminary  trial.  I  stood 
here  between  the  prisoner  and  the  jury  nine  hours, 
and  pleaded  for  the  wretch  that  he  was  insane,  and 


62 


THE     ADDRESS. 


he  did  not  even  know  he  was  on  trial.  And  when  all 
was  done,  the  jury  thought  —  at  least  eleven  of  them 
thought  —  that  I  had  been  deceiving  them,  or  was 
self-deceived.  They  read  signs  of  intelligence  in  his 
idiotic  smile,  and  of  cunning  and  malice  in  his  stolid 
insensibility.  They  rendered  a  verdict  that 'he  was 
sane  enough  to  be  tried' — a  contemptible  compro 
mise  verdict  in  a  capital  case  —  and  then  they 
looked,  with  what  emotions  God  and  they  only 
know,  upon  his  arraignment.  The  District  Attorney, 
speaking  in  his  adder-ear,  bade  him  rise,  and,  read 
ing  to  him  one  indictment,  asked  him  whether  he 
wanted  a  trial,  and  the  poor  fool  answered  '  No.' 
'Have  you  counsel?'  'No.'  And  they  went 
through  the  same  mockery,  the  prisoner  giving  the 
same  answers,  until  a  third  indictment  was  thundered 
in  his  ears,  and  he  stood  before  the  court  silent, 
motionless,  and  bewildered.  Gentlemen,  you  may 
think  of  this  evidence,  bring  in  what  verdict  you  can, 
but  I  asseverate  before  Heaven  and  you  that,  to  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  the  prisoner  at  the 
bar  does  not  at  this  moment  know  why  it  is  that  my 
shadow  falls  on  you  instead  of  his  own.  I  speak 
with  all  sincerity  and  earnestness,  not  because  I  ex 
pect  my  opinion  to  have  weight,  but  I  would  disarm 
the  injurious  impression  that  I  am  speaking  merely 
as  a  lawyer  speaks  for  his  client  I  am  not  the  pris 
oner's  lawyer.  I  am,  indeed,  a  volunteer  in  his  behalf. 


63 


THE     ADDRESS. 


But  society  and  mankind  have  the  deepest  interests 
at  stake.  I  am  the  lawyer  for  society,  for  mankind, 
shocked  beyond  the  power  of  expression  at  the 
scene  I  have  witnessed  here,  of  trying  a  maniac  as  a 
malefactor." 

There  cannot  be  a  doubt  that,  in  this  statement  of 
his  motives,  Mr.  Seward  uttered  nothing  more  than 
the  simple  truth.  It  was  to  rescue  from  violation 
the  broad  principle  of  morals,  that  guilt  can  only  be 
measured  by  responsibility  in  the  reciprocal  relations 
of  the  human  race.  Yet,  the  jury  brought  in  a  ver 
dict  against  the  prisoner,  and  the  judge  pronounced 
the  sentence  of  execution.  Nothing  daunted  by  all 
this,  Mr.  Seward  persisted  in  interposing  every  pos 
sible  dilatory  measure,  until  the  evidence  of  the  con 
dition  of  the  man  gradually  forced  itself  so  vividly 
upon  the  conviction  of  the  very  judge  who  had  tried 
and  condemned  him,  that,  when  officially  called 
upon  to  go  over  the  work  once  more,  he  declined  it 
as  impracticable.  Mr.  Seward  was  now  clearly 
proved  to  have  been  right,  so  far  as  his  action  had 
gone  before  the  law.  But,  when  the  time  came  for 
the  end  of  Freeman  by  a  natural  death,  seven  phy 
sicians  of  the  vicinity  were  summoned  to  a  post 
mortem  examination  of  his  brain,  and  the  result  at 
which  they  arrived  was  that  it  displayed  indications 
of  deep,  chronic  disease.  Mr.  Seward  had  been  right 
from  the  start.  He  had  upheld  a  broad  general 


64 


THE     ADDRESS. 


principle  at  enormous  personal  hazard,  and  he  never 
received  the  smallest  return  for  it,  excepting  in  the 
satisfaction  to  his  own  conscience  of  a  work  faith 
fully  performed. 

I  pass  from  this  illustration  of  the  resolute  will 
and  courage  of  the  man,  to  another  of  a  wholly  dif 
ferent  and  still  higher  kind.  I  shall  not  weary  your 
patience  by  going  over  the  well-known  details  of  the 
seizure  by  our  gallant  countryman,  Admiral  Wilkes, 
of  the  two  rebel  emissaries,  Mason  and  Slidell,  by 
forcibly  taking  them  from  a  British  passenger- 
steamer,  then  on  her  way  over  the  high  seas  to  a 
British  port.  You  can  all  remember  how  much 
delighted  every  body  was  with  the  news.  Few 
stopped  to  think  of  the  possible  consequences  as 
affecting  the  rights  of  neutral  nations.  Some  erro 
neous  precedents  were  published  in  the  journals 
which  quieted  possible  doubts.  Admiral  Wilkes 
immediately  received  the  official  approbation  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  and  rose  in  a  moment  to  the  height  of  a 
popular  hero.  Crowded  public  meetings  everywhere 
joined  in  their  acclamations,  proudly  exultant  at  the 
gallant  deed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  effect  of 
the  violent  proceeding,  when  divulged  in  Great 
Britain,  no  one  had  a  better  opportunity  to  under 
stand  than  I  myself.  It  was  at  once  presumed  to 
have  been  authorized  by  the  Government,  so  that 

[9]  68 


THE    ADDRESS. 


no  course  was  regarded  as  left  to  the  ministry 
other  than  to  demand  immediate  satisfaction  for  the 
insult.  War  was  considered  as  inevitable ;  hence 
provision  was  promptly  made  by  many  to  remove 
American  property  out  of  the  risk  of  confiscation, 
The  dock-yards  resounded  by  night  as  well  as 
by  day  with  the  ring  of  the  hammers,  fitting  out 
the  largest  iron-clads,  and  orders  went  forth  to 
assemble  the  most  available  troops  for  immediate 
embarkation  to  the  points  in  America  closest  upon 
our  northern  border.  A  cabinet  council  was 
promptly  assembled.  Four  dispatches  were  drawn 
up  on  the  same  day,  the  3oth  of  November,  three 
of  them  addressed  to  the  British  minister  at  Wash 
ington,  Lord  Lyons,  and  one  to  the  Lords  Commis 
sioners  of  the  Admiralty.  All  of  them  distinctly 
anticipated  an  immediate  rupture,  and  made  pro 
vision  for  the  event.  One  of  these,  very  carefully 
prepared,  instructed  Lord  Lyons  to  protest  against 
the  offensive  act,  and,  in  case  the  Secretary  of  State 
should  not  voluntarily  offer  redress  by  a  delivery  of 
the  men,  to  make  a  demand  of  their  restoration. 
The  second  directed  Lord  Lyons  to  permit  of  no 
delay  of  an  affirmative  answer  beyond  seven  days. 
Should  no  such  answer  appear  within  that  time, 
his  lordship  was  formally  instructed  to  withdraw 
with  all  his  legation  and  all  the  archives  of  the 
legation,  and  to  make  the  best  of  his  way  to  Lon- 


66 


THE     ADDRESS. 


don.  The  fourth  letter,  addressed  to  the  Admiralty, 
contained  instructions  to  prepare  all  the  naval 
officers  stationed  in  America  for  the  breaking  out 
of  hostilities. 

Looking  at  these  proceedings  as  calmly  as  I  can 
from  our  present  point  of  view,  it  seems  impossible 
for  me  to  doubt  that  the  issue  of  this  peremptory 
demand  had  been  already  prejudged  by  her  Majesty's 
ministers.  They  did  not  themselves  believe  that  the 
men  would  be  restored.  Hence  what  seems  to  me 
the  needless  offensiveness  of  these  preliminaries 
prompted,  no  doubt,  by  the  violence  of  the  popular 
feeling,  which  would  insist  upon  an  immediate  dis 
play  of  what  would  be  called  a  "  proper  spirit." 
Yet,  had  it  been  judged  possible  to  await  for  a  few 
days  the  reception  of  official  intelligence,  then  on  its 
way  from  Washington,  these  gentlemen  would  have 
learned  from  Mr.  Seward  that  they  were  precipitate 
in  their  action  at  least,  and  wholly  without  a  basis  in 
presuming  evil  intentions.  Moreover,  they  would 
have  had  the  assurance  that  the  act  was  without 
authority,  and  that  the  Government  was  ready  to 
listen  to  any  reasonable  representation  that  might 
be  forthcoming.  It  thus  appears  that  her  Majesty's 
Government  had  placed  themselves  at  the  outset  in 
a  false  position,  needlessly  offensive,  and  only  prov 
ocative  of  war  without  a  cause.  For  the  peremp 
tory  nature  of  the  overture,  however  clothed  in 

67 


THE     ADDRESS. 


moderate  terms,  merely  complicated  the  difficulty 
of  responding  in  any  tone  that  would  at  all  quiet 
the  excited  temper  of  the  American  people. 

It  was  the  writing  of  that  preliminary  dispatch 
that  saved  the  dignity  of  the  country.  Mr.  Seward 
could  point  to  it  to  prove  that  his  action,  when 
finally  taken,  had  not  been  prompted  by  intimida 
tion.  The  precipitate  British  course  had  betrayed 
the  rudeness  of  distrust,  and  nothing  more.  He 
had  been  ready  to  hear  and  discuss  the  question 
impartially,  and  solely  on  its  merits.  But  the  people 
of  the  United  States  had  thought  of  none  of  these 
things.  They  were  satisfied  with  the  fancied  glory 
of  the  deed,  and  very  far  from  disposed  to  sanction 
the  smallest  recantation.  As  to  the  demand  for 
the  surrender  of  the  men,  the  thing  was  not  to  be 
thought  of.  They  must  be  retained  at  any  hazard. 
Such  was  the  universal  sense,  and  it  is  this  which 
generally  controls  the  actions  of  those  who  hold 
office  in  a  popular  government.  Yet  the  fact  was 
to  me  clear  from  the  first  that  the  act  was  not 
justifiable.  Many  of  the  most  enlightened  neutral 
nations  had  signified  as  much  in  a  friendly  way,  and 
had  wished  to  open  to  us  some  easy  method  of 
retreat.  A  war  with  Great  Britain  to  maintain  an 
unsound  principle,  merely  because  the  people  made 
a  hero  of  Admiral  Wilkes,  would  probably  have 
ended  in  a  triumph  of  the  rebellion  and  a  perma- 


68 


THE     ADDRESS. 


nent  disruption  of  the  Union,  furnishing  ever  after 
a  new  example  with  which  "  to  point  a  moral  and 
adorn  a  tale."  When  the  time  came  for  the  assem 
bly  of  the  cabinet  to  decide  upon  an  answer  to 
Great  Britain,  not  a  sign  had  been  given  by  the 
President  or  any  of  the  members  favorable  to  con 
cession.  Mr.  Seward,  who  had  been  charged  with 
the  official  duty  of  furnishing  the  expected  answer, 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  preparing  his  able 
argument  upon  which  a  decision  was  predicated  to 
surrender  the  men.  Upon  him  would  have  rested 
the  whole  weight  of  the  popular  indignation  had 
it  proved  formidable.  If  I  have  been  rightly  in 
formed,  when  read,  it  met  with  but  few  comments 
and  less  approbation.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
was  no  resistance.  Silence  gave  consent.  It  was 
the  act  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  his  name  was  to  be 
chiefly  associated  with  it,  whether  for  good  or  for 
evil.  That  name  will  ever  stand  signed  at  the  foot 
of  the  dispatch.  In  my  firm  belief,  that  act  saved 
the  unity  of  the  nation.  It  was  like  the  fable  of 
the  Roman  Curtius,  who  leaped  into  the  abyss 
which  could  have  been  closed  in  no  other  way. 
The  people  acquiesced  rather  than  approved,  and 
to  this  day  they  have  never  manifested  any  sign  of 
gratitude  whatever. 

In  1869  Mr.  Seward  returned  home  to  Auburn, 
the  wreck  of  his  former  self.     The  continuous  con- 


co 


THE    ADDRESS. 


flicts  of  twenty  years,  and  especially  those  of  the 
last  eight,  with  the  assassin's  knife,  had  told  heavily 
on  his  frame.  That  home,  too,  was  no  longer  what 
it  had  been,  when  the  gifted  partner  of  his  life  and 
a  beloved  daughter  spread  over  it  sunshine  and  joy,- 
in  peaceful  times.  Worst  of  all,  the  symptoms  of  a 
subtle  disease,  creeping  slowly  from  the  extremities, 
came  to  warn  him  that  repose  would  be  synony 
mous  with  decay.  Nothing  daunted,  he  determined 
to  fight  the  enemy  to  the  last.  He  undertook  the 
laborious  task  of  a  journey  around  the  globe. 
What  he  modestly  and  yet  sadly  says  of  it  himself 
is  found  in  the  reply  he  made  to  the  welcome  given 
him  by  his  neighbors  and  friends  on  his  return  :  "  I 
have  had  a  long  journey,  which,  in  its  inception, 
seemed  to  many  to  be  eccentric,  but  I  trust  that  all 
my  neighbors  and  friends  are  now  satisfied  that  it 
was  reasonable.  I  found  that,  in  returning  home 
to  the  occupations  which  were  before  me,  I  was 
expected  to  enjoy  rest  from  labors  and  cares  which 
were  thought  to  have  been  oppressive  and  severe. 
I  found,  that,  at  my  age,  and  in  my  condition  of 
health,  '  rest  was  rust,'  and  nothing  remained  to 
prevent  rust  but  to  keep  in  motion.  I  selected  the 
way  that  would  do  the  least  harm,  give  the  least 
offense,  enable  me  to  acquire  the  most  knowledge, 
and  increase  the  power,  if  any  remained,  to  do 
good."  The  volume  from  which  I  quote,  contain- 


70 


HE     ADDRESS. 


J 


ing  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  travels  of  Mr. 
Seward,  has  been  issued  to  the  world  since  his 
decease.  The  turn  of  his  mind,  ever  indulging  in 
wide  speculation  upon  the  objects  presented  to  his 
observation,  is  as  clearly  marked  in  this  as  it  is  in 
any  of  his  earlier  productions.  Hence  it  is  clear 
that,  however  impaired  may  have  been  his  tene 
ment  of  clay,  the  living  principle  within  held  out 
firmly  to  the  last.  This  book  likewise  shows,  though 
expressed  in  very  modest  language,  that  the  fame 
of  the  great  statesman  had  reached  the  remotest 
and  most  exclusive  nations  of  the  Eastern  Hemis 
phere,  and  had  won  for  him  —  a  simple  private 
citizen — spontaneous  recognitions  such  as  hereto 
fore,  in  those  communities,  have  been  extorted  only 
by  representatives  of  those  sovereignties  which  they 
fear. 

And  now  the  chief  part  of  my  work  is  done.  I 
have  tried  to  test  the  statesman  by  the  highest 
standard  known  to  mankind.  His  career  covers 
the  whole  of  what  I  designate  as  the  second  period 
of  our  history  —  that,  pending  which,  the  heaviest 
clog  to  freedom,  a  perilous  legacy  from  our  fore 
fathers,  was,  after  long  and  severe  conflict,  at  last 
happily  removed.  In  this  trial  Mr.  Seward  played 
a  great  part.  His  mind,  taking  in  the  broadest 
view  of  practical  popular  government,  never  failed 
him  in  the  useful  application  of  his  powers  to  the 


71 


THE     ADDRESS. 


removal  of  all  adventitious  obstructions  to  its 
development.  He  was  never  a  mere  theorist  or 
dreamer  of  possibilities  he  could  not  reach.  He 
speculated  boldly,  but  he  was  an  actor  all  the  while, 
and  effected  results.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  I  think 
my  narrative  has  established  for  him  a  just  claim  to 
the  high  position  I  assigned  to  him  at  my  outset. 
He  may  not,  indeed,  rise  to  the  full  stature  of  the 
philosopher-statesman,  "  equal  to  the  present,  reach 
ing  forward  to  the  future,"  never  seen  even  in  the 
palmy  days  of  ancient  Greece,  or  perhaps  anywhere 
else,  but  at  least  he  stands  in  the  first  rank  of  those 
admitted  most  nearly  to  approach  it. 

But  thus  far  I  have  considered  him  exclusively  in 
his  public  life.  The  picture  would  scarcely  seem 
complete,  if  I  omitted  a  word  about  him  as  a  man 
like  all  the  rest  of  us.  By  nature  he  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  been  gifted  with  the  advantage  of 
an  imposing  presence,  such  as  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mr. 
Calhoun  and  Mr.  Webster.  Neither  in  face  nor 
in  figure  would  he  have  attracted  particular  notice, 
and  both  his  voice  and  power  of  articulation  were 
little  favorable  to  the  power  of  his  elocution.  Yet 
he  had  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  faculty  of  fixing 
the  hearer's  attention  —  the  surest  test  of  oratorical 
superiority.  His  familiar  conversation  rarely  kept 
in  the  dreary  round  of  common-place,  and  often 
struck  into  original  and  instructive  paths.  '  His 


72 


THE     ADDRESS. 


personal  address  was  easy  and  careless,  sometimes 
rather  blunt.  It  lacked  something  of  the  polish  of 
the  most  refined  society,  but  there  was  a  simplicity 
and  heartiness  in  his  genial  hours  that  often  brought 
one  close  to  him  in  a  moment.  At  times,  when  in 
good  spirits,  there  seemed  a  superabundant  glee, 
which  spent  itself  in  laughter  springing  from  his 
own  thoughts,  more  robust  than  could  be  wholly 
accounted  for  by  any  thing  expressed.  And  yet  it 
had  a  sympathetic  power  over  the  hearers  almost 
irresistible.  In  his  domestic  relations  he  was  pure 
and  affectionate  —  ready  to  heed  the  monitions  of  a 
gifted  and  refined  partner,  and  profit  by  her  prudent 
counsel.  Unhappily,  her  infirm  health,  breeding  a 
strong  inclination  for  retirement  from  the  bustle 
and  excitement  of  the  society  of  Washington,  ma 
terially  detracted  from  the  influence,  as  well  as  the 
satisfaction,  attending  her  husband's  elevated  posi 
tion.  Our  forefathers  would  marvel  could  they 
imagine  it  possible  for  me  to  claim  credit  for  Mr. 
Seward  on  the  score  of  his  honesty  as  a  public  man. 
Yet  the  time  has  come  when  we  must  honor  one 
who  never  bought  nor  sold  a  vote  or  a  place,  and 
who  never  permitted  his  public  action  to  be  con 
taminated  in  the  atmosphere  of  corporation  influ 
ence.  On  that  subject  I  had  occasion  to  know  his 
sentiments  more  than  once.  Above  all,  he  was 
earnestly  impressed  with  religious  feeling,  never 

[10]  73 


THE    ADDRESS. 


making  parade  of  it,  but  never  omitting  every 
proper  occasion  to  make  it  suitably  respected.  One 
of  his  finest  traits  was  the  calmness  with  which  he 
endured  all  the  various  political  assaults  made  upon 
him  by  opponents,  and  often  by  those  of  his  own 
side.  Few  persons  of  his  time  encountered  more. 
It  is  the  nature  of  power  always  to  raise  a  body 
of  resistance  in  a  relative  proportion  to  the  force 
of  its  own  movement.  Then  came  also  the  day  of 
complaints  raised  by  the  large  class  fated  to  be 
aggrieved  by  disappointed  hopes  or  imagined  offen 
ses,  the  arrogant,  the  incompetent,  the  rapacious, 
the  treacherous,  and  the  unscrupulous,  always  to  be 
found  intrenched  around  every  fountain  of  political 
favors.  Mr.  Seward  was  never  tempted  to  elevate 
the  position  of  such  persons  by  controversy,  or  to 
profit  by  opportunities  for  merited  retribution,  even 
when  clearly  within  his  grasp.  To  his  intimate 
friends  he  was  deeply  attached.  One  of  these  who 
survives  him  —  may  I  say  his  fidus  Achates  — 

"  It  comes  et  paribus  fun's  vestigia  figit," 

whose  singularly  disinterested  labor  it  has  been  to 
effect  the  elevation  of  others  to  power,  and  never 
his  own,  and  to  whose  remarkable  address  I  strongly 
suspect  Mr.  Seward  owed  many  obligations  of  that 
kind,  has  been  kind  enough  to  submit  to  my 
perusal  numbers  of  his  confidential  letters,  received 


74, 


THE    ADDRESS. 


during  interesting  periods  in  the  writer's  life,  which 
have  been  collected  and  bound  in  volumes.  I  have 
closely  examined  them,  as  laying  bare  the  most 
secret  impulses  of  his  mind  and  heart.  Yet,  highly 
confidential  as  they  appear  on  their  face  to  be,  I 
could  not  detect  a  single  passage  which,  for  his 
sake,  "  I  could  wish  to  blot." 

The  line  of  great  statesmen  in  America  may  or 
may  not  stretch  out, 

"  In  yon  bright  track  that  fires  the  western  skies," 

to  the  crack  of  doom.  But  the  memory  of  him 
who  guided  our  course,  through  the  most  appalling 
tempest  yet  experienced  in  our  annals,  can  scarcely 
fail  to  confront  all  future  aspirants  in  the  same 
honorable  career,  as  an  example  which  every  one  of 
them  may  imitate  to  his  advantage,  but  which  few 
can  hope  to  be  so  fortunate  as  to  excel. 


73 


LEGISLATIVE   PROCEEDINGS. 


Q  UAR TETTE.  —  "  Integer  Vitae,"  Fleming. 

BLESSING.  —  By  Rev.  Bishop  COXE. 

ORGAN  DISMISSION. 

Subsequent  to  the  address  the  following  resolu 
tions,  offered  by  Senator  PERRY,  were  unanimously 
adopted  by  the  Senate  and  concurred  in  by  the 
Assembly : 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
New  York  be  tendered  to  the  Hon.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS, 
for  the  eloquent  eulogium  on  the  life,  character  and  services  of 
ex-Governor  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  delivered  at  the  request 
of  the  Legislature,  on  the  i8th  day  of  April,  inst.,  and  that  a  copy 
of  the  address  be  requested  for  publication. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  forwarded  to  Mr. 
ADAMS,  signed  by  the  presiding  officers  and  clerks  of  the  Senate 
and  Assembly. 

An  engrossed  copy  of  the  above  resolutions,  duly 
authenticated,  was  subsequently  forwarded  to  Mr. 
ADAMS  by  the  joint  committee,  accompanied  by  the 
following  letter : 

LETTER  TO  MR.  ADAMS. 
"STATE  OF  NEW  YORK: 

"  SENATE  CHAMBER,  ) 

"  ALBANY,  May  12,  1873.  ) 
"  Hon.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS  : 

"Dear  Sit — Herewith  I  have  the  honor  to  inclose  the  joint  resolutions  of  thanks  to 
yourself,  adopted  by  the  Senate  and  Assembly  on  the  2gth  ult.  In  addition,  I  beg 
leave,  on  behalf  of  the  joint  committee,  to  express  to  you  their  sincere  acknowledg 
ments  for  your  kind  acceptance  of  their  invitation,  and  for  the  very  complete  and 
eloquent  address  delivered  on  the  occasion. 

76 


LEGISLATIVE   PROCEEDINGS. 


"  Vou  will  observe  that  one  of  the  resolutions  contains  a  request  that  a  copy  of  the 
address  be  furnished  for  publication.  Entertaining  the  hope  that  you  may  be  pleased 
to  comply  with  this  request,  I  have  the  honor  to  remain, 

Gratefully  yours, 

"JOHN  C.  PERRY, 
"  Chairman  of  Joint  Committee." 

The  receipt  of  these  resolutions  was  acknowledged 
by  Mr.  ADAMS  as  follows  : 

MR.  ADAMS'  REPLY. 

"  QUINCY,  May  14,  1873. 
"  Hon.  J.  C.  PERRY,  etc.,  etc.  : 

"  Dear  Sir  —  [  have  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your  letter  of  the  i2th  instant, 
and  of  the  joint  resolutions  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly  therein  referred  to. 

"  I  pray  you  to  accept,  in  their  behalf,  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  manner  in  which 
they  have  honored  me. 

"  In  compliance  with  their  request,  I  beg  permission  to  transmit  to  you  herewith  a 
copy  of  the  address  revised  for  publication. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"  Your  obdt.  servt., 

"C.  F.  ADAMS." 


77 


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